Boquet v. Tetra Technologies, Inc.

847 So. 2d 1, 2002 La.App. 1 Cir. 0937, 2003 La. App. LEXIS 335, 2003 WL 343177
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedFebruary 14, 2003
DocketNo. 2002 CA 0937
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 847 So. 2d 1 (Boquet v. Tetra Technologies, 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
Boquet v. Tetra Technologies, Inc., 847 So. 2d 1, 2002 La.App. 1 Cir. 0937, 2003 La. App. LEXIS 335, 2003 WL 343177 (La. Ct. App. 2003).

Opinions

| .GUIDRY, J.

In this workers’ compensation case, Tetra Technologies, Inc. and Travelers Property Casualty Corporation (collectively “Tetra”) appeal the Office of Workers’ Compensation (OWC) judgment finding that Ronald J. Boquet Sr. is entitled to permanent total disability benefits. For the reasons that follow, we reverse.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Ronald J. Boquet Sr. worked for Tetra Technologies, Inc., and was injured in a work-related accident on April 2, 1990. Thereafter, Tetra Technologies, Inc. paid Mr. Boquet weekly disability benefits at the rate of $276.00 for temporary total disability through November 11, 1994. Beginning on December 14, 1994, Tetra Technologies, Inc. paid Mr. Boquet monthly disability benefits at the rate of $835.75 for permanent partial disability.1 Tetra Technologies, Inc. terminated its payment of disability benefits on April 28, 2000, when Mr. Boquet had received the maximum five hundred twenty weeks of benefits.

On May 23, 2000, Mr. Boquet filed a disputed claim for compensation with the OWC. Thereafter, on March 16, 2001, vocational rehabilitation was initiated. A trial before the OWC was held on January 7, 2002. In a judgment signed on February 4, 2002, the workers’ compensation judge rendered judgment in favor of Mr. Boquet and ordered that he was entitled to permanent total disability benefits.

ASSIGNMENTS OF ERROR

Tetra now appeals from this judgment and asserts the following assignments of error:

1. The workers’ compensation judge erred in applying the “Totality of Factors” standard to determine permanent total disability status.
|a2. The workers’ compensation judge erred in his determination that Mr. Bo-quet was not provided vocational rehabilitation as provided for in the Workers’ Compensation Act.
3. The workers’ compensation judge erred in awarding court costs.

Additionally, Ronald J. Boquet Sr. answered the appeal, seeking attorney’s fees from Tetra, alleging Tetra’s appeal has no basis in fact or in law.

[3]*3DISCUSSION

Permanent Total Disability Standard

Because Mr. Boquet is not employed, the controlling statutory provision is La. R.S. 23:1221(2)(c) which provides:

For purposes of Subparagraph (2)(a) of this Paragraph, whenever the employee is not engaged in any employment or self-employment as described in Subpar-agraph (2)(b) of this Paragraph, compensation for permanent total disability shall be awarded only if the employee proves by clear and convincing evidence, unaided by any presumption of disability, that the employee is physically unable to engage in any employment or self-employment, regardless of the nature or character of the employment or self-employment, including, but not limited to, any and all odd-lot employment, sheltered employment, or employment while in any pain, notwithstanding the location or availability of any such employment or self-employment. [Emphasis added.]

The Louisiana Supreme Court, in interpreting the above statutory provision, has recently recognized that the clear and convincing standard in the workers’ compensation context is an intermediate standard, falling somewhere between the ordinary preponderance of the evidence civil standard and the beyond a reasonable doubt criminal standard. Comeaux v. City of Crowley, 01-0032, pp. 8-9 (La.7/3/01), 793 So.2d 1215, 1220. As such, to prove a matter by clear and convincing evidence means to demonstrate that the existence of a disputed fact is highly probable, in other words, much more probable than not. McCray v. Delta Industries, Inc. 00-1694, p. 3 (La.App. 1st Cir.9/28/01), 809 So.2d 265, 268.

l4In the instant case, in his reasons for judgment, the workers’ compensation judge stated that he relied on the totality of factors standard in finding Mr. Boquet permanently totally disabled. Thus, the workers’ compensation judge committed legal error by applying an incorrect legal standard, and our review will be de novo. Taylor v. BASF Wyandotte, 01-0328, pp. 4-5 (La.App. 1st Cir.9/28/01), 805 So.2d 235, 238, writ denied, 01-2835 (La.1/4/02), 805 So.2d 206.

Analysis

Permanent Total Disability Status

This court has previously stated, in regard to determining whether a claimant has met his burden of proving disability by clear and convincing evidence, that the claimant must introduce objective medical evidence of the disabling injury. McCray, 00-1694 at 4, 809 So.2d at 269. Disability can be proven by medical and lay testimony. The trial court must weigh all the evidence, medical and lay, in order to determine if the plaintiff has met his burden. McCray, 00-1694 at 3, 809 So.2d at 269.

In the instant case, Mr. Bouquet introduced the deposition testimony and medical records of his treating physicians in support of his claim for permanent total disability benefits. At the time of trial, Mr. Boquet was still under the care of Dr. Craig Walker, a cardiologist, for venuous thrombosis and pulmonary emboli; Dr. David Weir, a neurologist, for seizures; and Dr. Don Carlos, a psychiatrist, for depression. Additionally, Mr. Boquet was treated by Dr. Conrad Speece, an osteopathic physician, for balance problems. All of the doctors’ deposition testimony and medical records indicate that plaintiff’s medical conditions are related to the 1990 work injury.

Through medical records and deposition testimony, each doctor detailed the status of Mr. Boquet’s related medical conditions. [4]*4First, Dr. Weir stated that the last time he saw Mr. Boquet was in January of 2001 and since that time, when Mr. |5Boquet’s medication dosage was raised, he had no knowledge of Mr. Boquet having any more seizures. Further, Dr. Walker, who at the time of his deposition last saw Mr. Boquet in September of 2001, noted that Mr. Bo-quet had not had any further pulmonary emboli, though he was at a greater risk for the rest of his life for that condition and deep venuous thrombosis. Finally, Dr. Carlos also stated that Mr. Boquet’s depression was in remission, though he still needed to take medication.

Ultimately, each of Mr. Boquet’s treating physicians opined that Mr. Boquet is capable of performing sedentary work, with certain restrictions,2 if appropriately trained. However, Mr. Boquet argues, that Dr. Weir, despite his deposition testimony that from a neurological standpoint Mr. Boquet is capable of performing sedentary employment, did not approve Mr. Boquet to perform any of the job descriptions submitted by the vocational rehabilitation counselor, Katherine Harrison. The record indicates, in a follow up letter to Katherine Harrison, dated January 3, 2001, Dr. Weir stated: “The jobs described in the job description sent to me in September may well be within Mr. Boquet’s physical abilities, but, due to the nature of his injury, I do not believe emotionally or mentally he is capable of sustaining such employment.”

In contravention to this statement, Dr. Carlos, the psychiatrist treating Mr. Bo-quet for depression, approved each of those same job positions, from a psychiatric standpoint. Because we find that Dr. Carlos was in a better position to determine Mr. Boquet’s emotional capabilities, we accord little weight to Dr. Weir’s determination. Such an opinion is outside Dr.

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Bluebook (online)
847 So. 2d 1, 2002 La.App. 1 Cir. 0937, 2003 La. App. LEXIS 335, 2003 WL 343177, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/boquet-v-tetra-technologies-inc-lactapp-2003.