Breaux v. National Union Fire Ins. Co.

527 So. 2d 1207, 1988 La. App. LEXIS 1387, 1988 WL 63564
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJune 22, 1988
Docket87-379
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 527 So. 2d 1207 (Breaux v. National Union Fire Ins. Co.) 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
Breaux v. National Union Fire Ins. Co., 527 So. 2d 1207, 1988 La. App. LEXIS 1387, 1988 WL 63564 (La. Ct. App. 1988).

Opinion

527 So.2d 1207 (1988)

Rickey D. BREAUX, Plaintiff-Appellant,
v.
NATIONAL UNION FIRE INSURANCE COMPANY, et al., Defendants-Appellees.

No. 87-379.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Third Circuit.

June 22, 1988.

Broussard, Bolton & Halcomb, Daniel Broussard, Jr., Alexandria, for plaintiff-appellant.

Gibbens & Blackwell, Dennis Stevens, New Iberia, for defendants-appellees.

Before LABORDE, YELVERTON and KNOLL, JJ.

KNOLL, Judge.

In this worker's compensation case, Rickey D. Breaux (Breaux) appeals the judgment of the trial court which found him only entitled to receive supplemental earnings benefits from his employer, the City of Kaplan (City), and its insurer, National Union Fire Insurance Company (National Union). The trial court found that although Breaux was unable to return to his former employment as a cherry-picker operator, he was capable of performing light duty work within the medical restrictions. Accordingly, based on the testimony of a vocational *1208 rehabilitation specialist submitted by the City and National Union, the trial court determined that Breaux was entitled to receive the difference between his salary from the City and the wages available for jobs the vocational rehabilitation specialist identified in a labor market survey.

Breaux contends on appeal that the trial court erred: (1) in finding that he was able to earn $140 per week and awarding supplemental earnings benefits in the amount of $40 per week; (2) in failing to consider the unrebutted testimony of his psychiatric expert; (3) in finding that the City and National Union proved that there were certain jobs available in Vermilion Parish that he could perform; (4) in accepting the hearsay testimony of the rehabilitation speciaist for the City and National Union that other jobs were available in Vermilion Parish; (5) in failing to award Breaux temporary total disability benefits; (6) in not awarding Breaux the amount of the medical bills which were proven at trial; and (7) in failing to award penalties and attorney's fees for the wrongful termination of his worker's compensation benefits on January 3, 1986.

FACTS

On February 28, 1984, Breaux was operating a cherry-picker for the City when its hydraulic hoses became entangled in overhanging branches. Breaux, who was in the basket of the cherry-picker which was extended into the air, got out of the chair suspended above the truck cab, and walked along the side of the truck to release the branches. As he pulled on the branches, the arm of the cherry-picker moved, knocking him 13 to 15 feet to the ground, where he landed on his feet. As a result of this work-related accident Breaux sustained two ruptured discs in his neck, which were surgically fused on April 2, 1984, by Dr. Roland Miller at the C4,5 and C5,6 level.

National Union paid Breaux's medical expenses and weekly compensation benefits until January 3, 1986, when it terminated benefits based on a medical opinion it received from Dr. Miller, that Breaux was able to return to work.

DETERMINATION OF DISABILITY

Breaux contends that the trial court erred in finding that he was capable of performing light duty work within the restrictions placed by his treating physician, Dr. Miller. He further argues that in reaching this conclusion the trial court ignored the unrebutted testimony of Dr. William P. Cloyd, psychiatrist, that Breaux was unable to work at the time of trial due to the accident's exacerbation of his pre-existing emotional problem of schizophrenia, and that on this basis the trial court should have found him temporarily totally disabled. Additionally, he argues that the trial court erred when it accepted the testimony of the vocational rehabilitation specialist tendered by the City and National Union that Breaux was able to make an average of $140 per week.

The issue of disability is determined by the totality of the evidence, including both lay and medical testimony. On appellate review, the trial court's findings of work-connected disability are entitled to great weight. They should not be disturbed where there is evidence before the trier of fact, which, upon its reasonable evaluation of credibility, furnishes a reasonable factual basis for the trial court's findings, unless clearly wrong. The reviewing court should not disturb reasonable inferences of fact by the trial court, even though the reviewing court is of the opinion that other evaluations and inferences are as reasonable. Thomas v. Elder Pallet & Lumber Sales, Inc., 493 So.2d 1267 (La.App. 3rd Cir.1986), writ denied, 497 So.2d 312 (La.1986).

A claimant is entitled to an award for temporary total disability if he establishes that he is unable to pursue either the same occupation or another gainful occupation at the time of trial, though it appears he will be able to return to some type of work in the foreseeable future. Harris v. Rumold, 518 So.2d 9 (La.App. 4th Cir.1987). The burden of proof required in establishing a temporary total disability is by a preponderance of the evidence. Price v. Fireman's Fund Ins., Co., 502 So.2d 1078 (La. 1987).

*1209 Our first inquiry is whether the trial court was clearly wrong in its determination that at the time of trial Breaux was capable of performing light duty work, particularly in light of the medical opinions of Dr. Miller, the treating orthopaedist, and Dr. Cloyd, the treating psychiatrist.

In November 1985 Dr. Miller testified that he released Breaux to do light duty work, i.e., no heavy lifting, excessive repetitive bending, or rotation of the neck, and assigned him a 25% permanent partial whole body physical impairment. In accordance with the recommendations of other doctors who examined Breaux in connection with recurring headaches which began post-surgery, Dr. Miller suggested to Dr. David Tate, Breaux's family physician, that Breaux would probably need low dose Valium to help him break the cycle of anxiety, tension, and the resultant headaches that he was experiencing.

Even though the trial court noted in its written reasons that Breaux argued that he had aggravated a pre-existing nerve condition as the result of the work-accident, it did not address this contention. Where findings of fact are not made, an appellate court must examine those facts in a light most favorable to the party who obtained the judgment. Ford Motor Credit Co. v. Diffey, 378 So.2d 1032 (La.App. 2nd Cir. 1979), writ refused, 381 So.2d 508 (La. 1980).

Dr. Cloyd first examined Breaux on March 24, 1986. He concluded that: (1) Breaux was diagnosed as early as August 18, 1976, by Dr.

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Bluebook (online)
527 So. 2d 1207, 1988 La. App. LEXIS 1387, 1988 WL 63564, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/breaux-v-national-union-fire-ins-co-lactapp-1988.