Butler v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co.

195 So. 2d 314, 1967 La. App. LEXIS 5567
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedFebruary 13, 1967
DocketNo. 2472
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 195 So. 2d 314 (Butler v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance 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
Butler v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co., 195 So. 2d 314, 1967 La. App. LEXIS 5567 (La. Ct. App. 1967).

Opinion

BARNETTE, Judge.

Two suits were filed by George Butler; one, individually against State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, bearing docket No. 76389 in the Twenty-Fourth Judicial District Court, and the other, individually and in the capacity of natural tutor for and on behalf of his minor daughter, Miss Pat Butler, against The Boston Insurance Company and Mrs. Melvin Shanks, bearing docket No. 76390. The two suits were consolidated for the purpose of trial and appeal.

The suit against State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, hereinafter referred to as State Farm, sought recovery under the medical payment provisions of a policy of liability insurance issued by State Farm to O. Thomas Dancy. Miss Butler was a passenger in the Dancy automobile. Dancy is not a party to these proceedings.

The suit against The Boston Insurance Company, hereinafter referred to as Boston, and its insured, Mrs. Melvin Shanks, seeks recovery of damages for personal injuries on behalf of Miss Butler. It also seeks recovery for Mr. Butler, individually, of hospital and medical expenses and loss of wages of his minor daughter, based on the negligence of Mrs. Shanks, whose automobile struck the Dancy automobile from the rear, injuring Miss Butler.

The negligence of Mrs. Shanks was admitted before trial, and the suit against her was dismissed with prejudice against Boston, who acknowledged liability. Therefore, the only issue for trial was the quantum of damages for the personal injuries of Miss Butler and the allowance of special damages for certain contested medical fees and loss of wages.

The judgment was in favor of George Butler, individually against Boston and State Farm each for $114 with interest and costs. Judgment was rendered in favor of George Butler, as natural tutor for the use and benefit of his minor daughter, Miss Pat Butler, against Boston in the sum of $2,250 with interest and costs.

From this judgment, plaintiff George Butler has appealed. He seeks an increase in the award for personal injuries to $5,000 and amendment of the judgment to allow recovery of $435, representing the bill of Dr. William K. Gauthier; $611.50, representing the bill of Metairie Hospital; and compensation for loss of wages, which, claims were rejected by the trial court.

At the outset we must observe-that the testimony reveals that Miss Butler was a minor at the time of the accident and on the date suit was filed in her behalf. She attained the age of 21 on November 14, 1964, and therefore was a major person at the time of trial and judgment below.. The pleadings were not amended, nor was Miss Butler substituted as a party plaintiff in suit No. 76390 in her own right. The want of right of action of Miss Butler’s, father, George J. Butler, to prosecute the-suit in her behalf or stand in judgment foi-lier was not made an issue. It is the duty of this court to take notice sua sponte of this. Damages for personal injuries to a minor child belong to the child, and the right of the parent to assert a claim for such damages exists only during minority and ceases upon emancipation or the child’s-attaining majority. The parent’s right having abated, he has no further interest in the-child’s claim, and the prosecution of the suit from that moment can only be pursued by the real party in interest. LSA-C.C.P. art. 681; LSA-C.C. art. 221; Odenwald v. W.J.B.W. Radio Station, 173 So.2d 830 (La.App. 4th Cir. 1965); Lane v. Mud Supply Co., 111 So.2d 173 (La.App.Orleans 1959).

Since the two suits were consolidated for trial, only one judgment was rendered. However, it bears both case titles and numbers properly and is rendered in two parts. Mr. Butler being the only plain[317]*317tiff in suit No. 76389 against State Farm and being a coplaintiff individually in suit No. 76890 against Boston, with the appeal having been perfected in both cases, we will treat Mr. Butler as a proper party appellant in this court.

As to Miss Pat Butler, we must hold that George J. Butler was without authority to appeal in her behalf and she is not before this court. The attempted appeal in her behalf will therefore be dismissed. Lane v. Mud Supply Co., supra.

The issues which the appeal of George J. Butler presents are the principal issues argued before us. They pertain to an increase in the allowance of special damages for medical expenses pleaded in both suits in identical amounts, and for loss of wages of Miss Butler, pleaded in suit No. 76390 against Boston. This opinion will be confined to those issues.

The accident in question happened on September 26, 1962, on the Airline Highway in Jefferson Parish. The Dancy automobile was stopped in obedience to a traffic light and was struck from the rear by a car driven by Mrs. Melvin Shanks, insured by Boston. The force of the impact caused Miss Butler to be thrown about rather violently in the automobile with resultant injury. She was taken to the Ochsner Clinic and examined by Dr. Edward Schech-ter, an orthopedist, who testified:

“The patient had a superficial abrasion of the right side of her neck, several small abrasions on her legs; there was some guarding with attempted full range of motion of her neck; examination of the abdomen also revealed some muscle guarding, and there was some tenderness over the abdominal wall. Those are the essential positive findings; others would be negative findings, normal findings.”

She was not hospitalized and returned for further examination on October 2, 1962. No specific treatment was rendered on that date for the cervical sprain. The doctor’s attention at that time was directed more to her abdominal complaints; her neck did not then seem to be causing her discomfort. His diagnosis was: “Moderate cervical and lumbosacral strain and multiple abrasions.”

Miss Butler was seen again by Dr. Schechter on October 18. She complained of facial lesions (commonly called acne), insomnia, and menstrual irregularity. A tranquilizer was prescribed, and it was recommended that she be seen by an internist or a gynecologist. Appointments were set up for her accordingly, but she failed to keep them. Dr. Schechter’s report of November 2 was to the effect that “the patient was doing quite well following her injury, and a lot of the above complaints could not be directly traced to her injury.” The bill for the services of Dr. Schechter and Ochsner Clinic was in the amount of $114.

Thereafter Miss Butler was seen by Dr. John C. Thorn on November 1.4; Dr. Murphy John St. Romain, Jr., November 21; and Dr. William K. Gauthier on November 23, 1962. The examinations of Drs. Thorn and St. Romain were pelvic. Dr. Thorn found a third-degree retrodisplacement of the uterus and complaints of abdominal pains. He prescribed a pessary to correct the uterus displacement. Dr. St. Romain’s report was essentially negative.

Dr. Gauthier expressed the opinion that there was a causal connection between the nervous condition and abdominal complaints and the accident. He testified in part as follows:

“The patient gave no evidence of having epigastric symptoms prior to the accident.

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195 So. 2d 314, 1967 La. App. LEXIS 5567, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/butler-v-state-farm-mutual-automobile-insurance-co-lactapp-1967.