Chauvin v. Terminix Pest Control, Inc.

97 So. 3d 476, 2011 La.App. 1 Cir. 1006, 2012 La. App. LEXIS 918, 2012 WL 2459320
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJune 28, 2012
DocketNo. 2011 CA 1006
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 97 So. 3d 476 (Chauvin v. Terminix Pest Control, 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
Chauvin v. Terminix Pest Control, Inc., 97 So. 3d 476, 2011 La.App. 1 Cir. 1006, 2012 La. App. LEXIS 918, 2012 WL 2459320 (La. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinions

PETTIGREW, J.

12Pefendant, Terminix Pest Control, Inc. (“Terminix”) appeals a judgment of the Office of Workers’ Compensation (“OWC”) awarding claimant, Dean Chauvin, supplemental earnings benefits (“SEBs”) retroactive to December 31, 2009, the cost of a prescription medication, and penalties and attorney fees. For the reasons that follow, we affirm the judgment of the OWC.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Mr. Chauvin is employed by Terminix as a pest control technician. He is paid a commission on the accounts he services and also earns commissions on new accounts he brings in. Terminix’s pest control technicians perform “inside services” and “outside services.” Inside services require carrying a can and spraying pesticides inside the home or business of Ter-minix’s customers. Outside services require spraying pesticides outside the home or business of Terminix’s customers. To perform outside services, technicians are required to use a 3/8-inch, 100-foot hose attached to a reel on a Terminix truck to spray the pesticides.

On December 28, 2007, Mr. Chauvin, who was fifty-three years old at the time, slipped on a grate while performing pest control services on a barge and fell to the floor. He reported the incident to his supervisor a few days later. Terminix sent Mr. Chauvin to Dr. Larry Haydel for an evaluation. Mr. Chauvin visited Dr. Haydel from February through July 2008, complaining of back pain with radiation into his right leg following the work accident. Dr. Haydel diagnosed Mr. Chauvin as having a lumbar strain and sent Mr. Chauvin to have an MRI. The MRI showed a central disc protrusion at the L5-S1 level and degenerative disc disease.

Mr. Chauvin returned to work soon after the accident and performed both inside and outside services until April 10, 2008. For several months thereafter, Mr. Chau-vin did not return to work. In July 2008, Dr. Haydel released Mr. Chauvin to return to light duty work. For a short time, Terminix provided Mr. Chauvin with a driver and helper on the job.

Dr. Haydel referred Mr. Chauvin to Dr. Donald Gervais, a pain management | ^specialist. Dr. Gervais placed a 10 to 15-pound pulling and pushing restriction on Mr. Chauvin. On August 7, 2008, a functional capacity evaluation (“FCE”) was conducted by Trevor Bardarson, a physical [479]*479therapist, in which Mr. Bardarson placed a 10 to 15-pound lifting restriction on Mr. Chauvin and limited pushing and pulling to “occasional.” A 2009 ergonomic analysis by Mr. Bardarson measured the pull force required to move a large section of the 3/8-inch hose. The force to pull the hose averaged 20 pounds with a peak 30 pounds of pull; however, if the hose became jammed, a peak force of 50 pounds of pull force was measured.

Following Dr. Gervais’ restrictions on Mr. Chauvin’s pulling capabilities, Mr. Chauvin began to refuse all jobs requiring that he pull the hose from the reel of his truck. As a result, Mr. Chauvin’s income decreased, and Terminix’s workers’ compensation insurer, Stonestreet Commercial Insurance Company, paid SEBs to Mr. Chauvin through December 31, 2009, when it terminated benefits on the basis of a second FCE that concluded that Mr. Chauvin had the physical capability to pull the hose and thus perform outside services.

On March 3, 2010, Mr. Chauvin filed this disputed claim in the OWC seeking to recover SEBs and challenging the refusal to pay for Cialis1 for erectile dysfunction (“ED”) and other prescription medications. He also sought to recover penalties and attorney fees. Mr. Chauvin claimed'that he is not capable of performing jobs requiring that he pull the hose from his truck in yards and around trees and buildings of Terminix’s customers because doing so exceeds the 10 to 15-pound force pulling limitations placed upon him by Dr. Gervais. He further asserted that because he can no longer perform the more profitable outside jobs, he is unable to earn more than 90 percent of his pre-injury wage. Terminix defended its decision to terminate benefits on the basis of the second FCE report, submitting that Mr. Chauvin is capable of performing all aspects of his job, and is not entitled to SEBs because any reduction in his income is not related to the job injury.

l/The four-day trial commenced on October 26, 2010, recessed, and concluded on January 19, 2011. At the outset, the parties stipulated that from January 2010 through the end of September 2010, during seven of the nine months in question, Mr. Chauvin earned less than 90 percent of his pre-injury wage and would be entitled to SEBs for those months in the amount of $5,716.97 if the court determined that such were due. The Workers’ Compensation Judge (“WCJ”) was presented with conflicting medical opinions, testimony from the two physical therapists that performed the FCEs, and medical records. The WCJ determined that Mr. Chauvin was entitled to SEBs from the date of the termination of benefits through the trial, but did not set forth an amount of the award in the judgment. The WCJ further determined that Terminix was not arbitrary and capricious in its decision to terminate SEBs. However, the WCJ found that Terminix was arbitrary and capricious in discontinuing Mr. Chauvin’s Cialis prescription and awarded $2,000.00 in penalties and $10,000.00 in attorney fees. A judgment was signed in accordance with these findings on February 7, 2011.

Terminix appealed, contesting the SEBs award, the award of Cialis, and the award of penalties and attorney fees. Observing that the judgment did not set forth an amount of SEBs, this court issued an interim order directing the WCJ [480]*480to determine the amount of SEBs owed by Terminix. On January 9, 2012, following a stipulation by the parties, the WCJ entered an award of SEBs in the amount of $8,475.00 with legal interest through the date of the trial.

SUPPLEMENTAL EARNINGS BENEFITS

Terminix contends on appeal that the WCJ applied the incorrect burden of proof on Mr. Chauvin’s SEBs claim. Terminix stresses that Mr. Chauvin’s entire case was based on his claim that he cannot perform outside jobs requiring the use of the hose and submits that the WCJ’s decision to award Mr. Chauvin SEBs based on Mr. Chauvin’s inability to perform one aspect of his pre-injury job is erroneous as a matter of law. In support of its position that the WCJ applied the wrong burden of proof, Terminix relies on Poissenot v. St. Bernard Parish Sheriffs Office, 2009-2793, pp. 4-5 (La.1/09/11), 56 So.3d 170, 174, wherein the supreme court set out the burdens of proof |sin a SEB case as follows:

An employee is entitled to receive SEBs if he sustains a work-related injury that results in his inability to earn ninety percent (90%) or more of his average pre-injury wage. Initially, the employee bears the burden of proving, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the injury resulted in his inability to earn that amount under the facts and circumstances of the individual case. In determining if an injured employee has made out a prima facie case of entitlement to [SEBs], the trial court may and should take into account all those factors which might bear on an employee’s ability to earn a wage. It is only when the employee overcomes this initial step that the burden shifts to the employer to prove, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the employee is physically able to perform a certain job and that the job was offered to the employee or that the job was available to the employee in his or the employee’s community or reasonable geographic location. [Citations omitted.]

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
97 So. 3d 476, 2011 La.App. 1 Cir. 1006, 2012 La. App. LEXIS 918, 2012 WL 2459320, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/chauvin-v-terminix-pest-control-inc-lactapp-2012.