Anderson v. Sanctuary, Inc.

799 So. 2d 1248, 1 La.App. 3 Cir. 0819, 2001 La. App. LEXIS 2619, 2001 WL 1360196
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedNovember 7, 2001
DocketNo. 01-0819
StatusPublished

This text of 799 So. 2d 1248 (Anderson v. Sanctuary, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Anderson v. Sanctuary, Inc., 799 So. 2d 1248, 1 La.App. 3 Cir. 0819, 2001 La. App. LEXIS 2619, 2001 WL 1360196 (La. Ct. App. 2001).

Opinions

_JjAMY, Judge.

The plaintiff filed suit against her employer for the termination of her workers’ compensation benefits. At the close of the plaintiffs case, the workers’ compensation judge, upon motion by defense, dismissed the action finding that the plaintiff failed to prove the existence of a work-related accident. The plaintiff appeals. For the following reasons, we affirm.

Factual and Procedural Background

Maria Anderson was employed by The Sanctuary as a cook and housekeeper. She alleges that on December 22,1999, she sustained a back injury while in the course and scope of her employment. According to Anderson’s testimony at trial, she “squatted down” to get a mixer out of a bottom cabinet, then “sprang up.” She stated that she felt a “pinch” in her back. According to her recount of the incident, Anderson then picked up a knife and quickly turned, immediately feeling pain. She explained that she felt pain right above her tailbone on the left side of her back. There were no eyewitnesses to the incident, however, according to the record, there were other employees nearby.

Anderson testified that, believing that the pain would subside, she continued to work until approached by Hazel Simon, a co-worker. According to Anderson’s trial testimony, Simon asked her what was wrong and told her that she could tell by Anderson’s face that something was wrong. Anderson testified that Simon then called both Mr. Hickerson, their boss, and Anderson’s husband. The record indi[1250]*1250cates that Anderson’s husband had someone take her to Eunice Community Medical Center.

Anderson testified at trial that she did not go to work the next day, but that weekend, she went to Texas to pick up her daughter. She explained that, while in | ¡.Texas, she stayed in bed the entire weekend and when she returned home, her husband took her to Huey P. Long Hospital. Again, Anderson testified that her complaint to the hospital personnel was back pain.

According to the record, Anderson returned to work on December 28, 1999 and completed a five-hour shift. She testified that she could not bend over at all and needed help from co-workers. However, Anderson complains that upon returning to work on December 29, 1999, she was again injured. Anderson testified that she was in the process of preparing lunch when she attempted to lift a pot filled with beans and water. According to Anderson’s testimony, as she lifted the pot, the pain returned and she consequently dropped the pot. She explained that one of the residents of the home was present and went to retrieve Paula Ledet, .a counselor. Anderson left work in an ambulance which brought her to Savoy Medical Center. During the trial, Anderson described the pain felt on December 29 as worse than the pain suffered on December 22.

Anderson stated that on the evening of December 29, Mr. Hickerson, her boss, stopped by her house. There, according to Anderson, he informed her that they needed to call the Office of Workers’ Compensation.

According to the record, Anderson spoke with Ann Hotard from the Louisiana Workers’ Compensation Corporation in early January. Hotard’s trial testimony reveals that she was the claims representative of the Anderson case. She stated that she tape recorded Anderson’s January 4, 2000 statement. Hotard explained that the initial report did not contain any mention of the December 29, 1999 incident. On February 27, 2000, workers’ compensation benefits were terminated. Anderson | ^testified that she was notified on March 8, 2000 of the termination of her benefits by a nurse at her doctor’s office.

According to Hotard, Anderson’s benefits were terminated due to a finding that the back pain was caused by a gallbladder condition and not a work-related accident. Furthermore, Hotard testified that she gave more weight to the emergency room records than subsequent doctors visits because of the close proximity in time of the emergency room records to the incident. Although the emergency room records do not document a work-related accident, the records do contain notes of left flank pain, cerebral vascular accident tenderness, and musculoskeletal back pain. In her trial testimony, Hotard could not cite any medical evidence or expert opinion that Anderson’s back pain was related to the gallbladder problem.

The medical records reveal that Anderson went to see Dr. Tassin, a family physician, during the first week of January 2000. The records indicate that, after seeing Dr. Tassin a few times, Anderson was referred to Dr. Nason, an orthopedic surgeon. Although medical records reveal that Anderson’s gallbladder was removed on March 18, 2000, Anderson testified that the back pain persisted for many months after this. Furthermore, according to Dr. Nason’s notes from April 13, 2000, the “gallbladder has no relationship to the current back pain.”

Following the presentation of the claimant’s evidence, the workers’ compensation judge granted a motion for dismissal advanced by the employer. Anderson contends the granting of the dismissal constitutes manifest error. Rather, she argues [1251]*1251that she proved a work-related accident by a preponderance of the evidence.

l4Discussion

In order to recover under the requirements of workers’ compensation law, an employee must prove that he or she was injured in an “accident arising out of and in the course of his employment.... ” LaJt.S. 23:1031(A). La.R.S. 23:1021(1), defines an accident as an “unexpected or unforeseen actual, identifiable, precipitous event happening suddenly or violently, with or without human fault, and directly producing at the time objective findings of an injury which is more than simply a gradual deterioration or progressive degeneration.” A plaintiff must prove by a preponderance of the evidence that a work-related accident occurred. Romero v. Chabillis’ Tire Service, Inc., 97-1722 (La.App. 3 Cir 5/6/98), 714 So.2d 803.

In the case sub judice, the workers’ compensation judge found that Anderson failed to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that a work-related accident occurred and dismissed the case at the close of Anderson’s presentation of evidence. This court will not disturb the dismissal of a case by the workers’ compensation judge without a finding of manifest error. Citgo Petroleum Corp. v. Yeargin, Inc., 95-1574 (La.App. 3 Cir. 2/19/97), 690 So.2d 154. In making this determination, we must do more than evaluate the record for some evidence that supports or contradicts the workers’ compensation judge’s findings. We “review the record in its entirety to determine whether the trial court’s finding was clearly wrong or manifestly erroneous.” Stobart v. State, through Dep’t of Transp. and Dev., 617 So.2d 880, 882 (La.1993). Additionally, when applying the manifest error standard, “the court of appeal may not reverse, even if convinced that had it been sitting as the trier of fact, it would have weighed the evidence differently.” Beverly v. Boardwalk Const., 00-00219,5 p. 5 (La.App. 3 Cir. 10/12/00), 771 So.2d 741, 744. See also, Stobart, 617 So.2d 880.

At trial, the only evidence that Anderson presented, besides some unpaid medical bills, was her testimony and the testimony of Ann Hotard, the workers’ compensation case representative, whom the claimant questioned under cross-examination.

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799 So. 2d 1248, 1 La.App. 3 Cir. 0819, 2001 La. App. LEXIS 2619, 2001 WL 1360196, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/anderson-v-sanctuary-inc-lactapp-2001.