Authement v. Consolidated Water Works District 1

935 So. 2d 158, 2006 La. App. LEXIS 1086, 2006 WL 1194771
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMay 5, 2006
DocketNo. 2005 CA 0877
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 935 So. 2d 158 (Authement v. Consolidated Water Works District 1) 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
Authement v. Consolidated Water Works District 1, 935 So. 2d 158, 2006 La. App. LEXIS 1086, 2006 WL 1194771 (La. Ct. App. 2006).

Opinion

McDonald, j.

| ¡>This is a disputed claim for workers’ compensation. The plaintiff, Lorraine Authement, worked at Consolidated Water Works District # 1 (CWWD) for seven years as a meter reader. This job included changing water meter transponders when needed. She had pre-existing back problems resulting from an automobile accident in the 1980s, a pulled muscle in 2001, and degenerative disc disease.

In November 2000 and March and April 2001, Dr. Brian Matherne, a physician in family practice, was treating Ms. Authement for her back pain. He prescribed anti-inñammatories and sent her to have an MRI on April 17, 2001. The MRI report indicated, “No frank disc herniation is seen and no significant encroachment upon the dural sac can be seen.” Dr. Larry Haydel, an orthopedic surgeon, treated her with a series of three epidural steroid injections for her back pain and she was put on light duty at CWWD. Ms. Authement received the last epidural steroid injection from Dr. Haydel on May 21, 2001.

The next day, May 22, 2001, she was changing a water meter transponder in front of Broadmoor Drugs in Houma, Louisiana, when she felt a pop in her back. She reported the incident to the CWWD safety supervisor, Ernest Robichaux, that afternoon.

Several doctors treated Ms. Authement over the next three months and she had a two-level lumbar disc excision and fusion performed on August 14, 2001, by Dr. Stuart Phillips, an orthopedic surgeon. During the surgery, it was discovered that Ms. Authement had a staph infection on one of her discs, which Dr. Phillips testified probably resulted from the steroid injections.

laCWWD disputed her claim of a work-related injury and denied Ms. Authement workers’ compensation indemnity benefits and medical expenses. She thereafter filed a disputed claim for workers’ compensation benefits. After a trial on the merits, the workers’ compensation judge ruled in favor of Ms. Authement, finding that she had an accident while in the course and scope of her employment with CWWD; that she suffered an aggravation of a pre-existing back condition, which combined with an infection to create her [161]*161current medical condition; that she was entitled to workers’ compensation indemnity benefits at a rate of $274.68 per week; that she was entitled to the payment of all past medical treatment from May 22, 2001, to the date of the judgment, except for any treatment which could be specifically designated as treatment for the infection only; that the lumbar surgery performed in August 2001 was due to a combination of the infection and the aggravation of the preexisting condition, therefore, CWWD was to pay for the surgery; that Ms. Authement was entitled to all reasonable and necessary medical treatment required to treat her current medical condition; that Ms. Authement was temporarily and totally disabled; that the parties were to explore the necessity of a functional capacity evaluation and vocational rehabilitation efforts; that CWWD was assessed penalties in the amount of $1,000, as well as $4,000.00 in attorney fees; and that the judgment did not prevent CWWD from filing an intervention or third party demand for contribution or indemnification against any entity or person responsible for Ms. Authement’s pre-existing condition or the infection.

CWWD is appealing that judgment and makes the following assignments of error:

1. The [workers’ compensation judge] committed legal error in applying the incorrect legal standard of proof required of the claimant.
|42. The [workers’ compensation judge] committed legal error in applying the jurisprudentially created legal presumption that the incident sued upon was necessarily the cause of the disability of which the claimant complained.
3.The [workers’ compensation judge] erred in finding that the [claimant] carried her burden of proof that a compensable “accident” causing injury occurred.
4. The [workers’ compensation judge] erred in finding that the surgery which coincident[al]ly followed the date of the incident in question was caused by any specific injury caused by the incident in question.
5. The [workers’ compensation judge] erred in finding that the “disabling condition” was caused by the incident at issue.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

The standard of review in a workers’ compensation case is the manifest error — clearly wrong standard. See Alexander v. Pellerin Marble & Granite, 93-1698 (La.1/14/94), 630 So.2d 706, 710. The workers’ compensation judge determinations as to whether the worker’s testimony is credible and whether the worker has discharged his or her burden of proof are factual determinations not to be disturbed on review unless clearly wrong or absent a showing of manifest error. Bruno v. Harbert International Inc., 593 So.2d 357, 361 (La.1992).

If the fact finder’s findings are reasonable in light of the record reviewed in its entirety, the court of appeal may not reverse, even though convinced that had it been sitting as the trier of fact, it would have weighed the evidence differently. Sistler v. Liberty Mutual Insurance Co., 558 So.2d 1106, 1112 (La.1990).

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NUMBER THREE

In this assignment of error, CWWD asserts that the workers’ compensation judge erred in finding that the claimant carried her burden of proof that a compensable “accident” causing injury occurred.

| ¡^Louisiana Revised Statute 23:1021(1) provides:

[162]*162“Accident” means 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 deterioration.

In order for a claimant to be entitled to recover workers’ compensation benefits, she must prove, by a preponderance of the evidence, that a work-related event occurred and that an injury was sustained. A claimant’s testimony alone may be sufficient to discharge this burden of proof, provided two elements are satisfied: (1) no other evidence discredits or casts serious doubt on the worker’s version of the incident, and (2) the worker’s testimony is corroborated by the circumstances following the alleged incident. The determinations by the workers’ compensation judge as to whether the claimant’s testimony is credible and whether the claimant has discharged her burden of proof are factual determinations and will not be disturbed upon review in the absence of manifest error or unless clearly wrong. Winfield v. Jiffy Lube, 2001-0341 (La.App. 1 Cir. 3/28/01), 813 So.2d 428, 431.

Ms. Authement testified that she was changing a water meter transponder when she felt a pop in her back and that she had to stop working because of the pain. She reported the incident to the CWWD safety supervisor that afternoon and later filled out an accident report. She reported the incident to a co-worker, Patricia Earls, the afternoon it happened and Ms. Earls testified that Ms. Authement appeared to be in pain as she walked to her car. Further, the day after the incident, Ms. Authement went to see Dr. Brian Guidry complaining of back pain.

The workers’ compensation judge found Ms. Authement to be a credible witness and found that the testimony of other witnesses and the | ^medical records corroborated her version of events.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Ayo v. BEO Contractors, Inc.
103 So. 3d 1251 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2012)
Gary Ayo v. Beo Contractors, Inc.
Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2012
Stogner v. Smith & Smith, LLC
80 So. 3d 47 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2011)
Clark v. Godfrey Knight Farms, Inc.
6 So. 3d 284 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2009)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
935 So. 2d 158, 2006 La. App. LEXIS 1086, 2006 WL 1194771, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/authement-v-consolidated-water-works-district-1-lactapp-2006.