United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit

____________ FILED August 28, 2023 No. 22-30407 Lyle W. Cayce ____________ Clerk

John Lousteau,

Plaintiff—Appellant,

versus

Holy Cross College, Incorporated; Congregation of Holy Cross Moreau Province, Incorporated, incorrectly named as Congregation of Holy Cross Southern Province, Incorporated,

Defendants—Appellees. ______________________________

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana USDC No. 2:21-CV-1457 ______________________________

Before King, Smith, and Elrod, Circuit Judges. Per Curiam: John Lousteau appeals the dismissal of his complaint in the district court. In light of an opinion rendered by the Louisiana Supreme Court in the intervening period, see T.S v. Congregation of Holy Cross S. Province, Inc., 2023 WL 4195778 (La. June 27, 2023), we VACATE the district court’s decision and REMAND. Case: 22-30407 Document: 00516874956 Page: 2 Date Filed: 08/28/2023

No. 22-30407

On August 1, 2021, Plaintiff-Appellant John Lousteau brought an action against Defendants-Appellees Holy Cross College, Inc. and Congregation of Holy Cross Moreau Province, Inc. 1 (collectively, “Holy Cross”) in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. Lousteau alleges that he suffered from sexual abuse carried out by Brother Stanley Repucci on two separate occasions while attending summer camp at Holy Cross as a 10- or 11-year-old boy in either 1968 or 1969. Brother Repucci was a teacher at Holy Cross College, Inc. and monitored a large dormitory there; he died years before the instant action was filed. Lousteau asserts that Holy Cross is liable for Brother Repucci’s conduct under the doctrine of respondeat superior. At the time of the alleged abuse, such an offense was subject to a one- year liberative prescriptive period. T.S, 2023 WL 4195778, at *4 n.7. In 1993, Louisiana’s Legislature extended the prescriptive period for offenses involving the abuse of a minor to ten years following the time at which the minor attained the age of majority. La. Stat. Ann. § 9:2800.9(A) (1993). But that legislation was silent as to claims that would have already been prescribed at the time of its enactment. In 2021, the Legislature passed Act 322, which altogether eliminates the prescriptive period for offenses involving the abuse of a minor. 2021 La. Acts 322 § 1 (amending La. Stat. Ann. § 9:2800.9(A)). Act 322 also permits “any party whose action under [§] 9:2800.9 was barred by liberative prescription prior to the effective date” of Act 322 “to file an action under [§] 9:2800.9 against a party whose alleged actions are the subject of [§] 9:2800.9” for three years following Act 322’s enactment (the “Revival Provision”). Id. § 2. Lousteau invokes the Revival

_____________________ 1 Lousteau incorrectly referred to Congregation of Holy Cross Moreau Province, Inc. as Congregation of Holy Cross Southern Province, Inc. when filing his complaint.