Coulon v. Anderson Bros.

67 So. 2d 117, 1953 La. App. LEXIS 752
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJune 30, 1953
DocketNo. 3692
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 67 So. 2d 117 (Coulon v. Anderson Bros.) 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
Coulon v. Anderson Bros., 67 So. 2d 117, 1953 La. App. LEXIS 752 (La. Ct. App. 1953).

Opinions

LOTTINGER, Judge.

The defendants in this suit, Anderson Brothers and Employers’ Mutual Liability Insurance Company of Wisconsin, are appealing from a judgment rendered against them in favor of plaintiffs, Leonard Coulon and his wife, Ada Kimball Coulon, awarding to the latter workmen’s compensation at the rate of $30 per week for 300 weeks for the death of plaintiffs’ eighteen year old son, David Coulon, who was killed while in the employ of defendant, Anderson Brothers. The defendants tendered into the registry of the court the sum of $300 for funeral expenses of the decedent in the amount of $250 and incidental expenses in the amount of $50. In the judgment appealed from this amount also was ordered paid to the plaintiffs.

It is admitted in the record that 65% of the decedent’s weekly wages at the time of his death exceeded the sum of $30 per week. It is also admitted that the employment was hazardous and that the decedent met his death during the course and scope thereof. The sole question for determination, it is agreed, is the dependency and, if so, to what extent, of the plaintiffs on the decedent.

The trial judge has favored us with a written opinion from which we herewith quote in part:

“The said minor, David Coulon, was single and always lived with his parents, Leonard Coulon and Ada Kimble Coulon, at the family home which, for many years preceding his death, has been on a 30 acre tract of land (mostly woodland with only about 5 acres open) situated between Krotz Springs and Melville, Louisiana. At the time of David’s accidental death and for many years prior thereto the Coulon Family consisted of the said father and mother, a sister, age 17 years, and the said minor David Coulon.

“David obviously was a home-loving and hard-working boy since childhood. His father testified that his only son David was his ‘right hand’. The deceased minor, since he was a small boy, assisted his family by working with his father on the farm. And for several years prior to his accidental death he and his father worked together in hauling by truck for others principally cotton seed to Alexandria, Louisiana for a few months beginning about September of each year. The said father and son also did other hauling work including the hauling of fence posts. In this hauling work David drove the truck and with his father loaded and unloaded the said motor vehicle (a 1948 truck with mileage of about 92,000 miles). In addition, and whenever work on the outside was available in the vicinity, David obtained such jobs and worked for different firms such as Spencer’s Potashnick and Anderson Brothers Corporation. In fact, as stated above, he was working for Anderson Brothers Corporation when he was accidentally killed on the job. And always, even when he worked on the outside, David lived at home with the family and was there with them every night. It is also noted that David never drank intoxicating liquor and obviously was a lad with good habits and was industrious.

“For working on the farm David Coulon received no pay from his father and his father collected and used for the family the said minor’s pay or wages earned in the hauling business. And all the wages earned on the outside by David was contributed to and spent entirely for the Coulon Family and was used to buy family groceries regularly, to buy furniture and other things for the Coulon home, to pay on the truck, to purchase clothes regularly by the daughter Adele, and to meet the needs of the deceased. In other words, David Coulon never kept any of his earnings for himself [119]*119—he spent his entire earnings for the family in giving financial assistance to his parents and helping them to support, maintain and provide for the needs of themselves and their two minor children.

“As the mother testified, ‘Well, David and his daddy both worked together at the same time and supported the family.’ Mrs. Coulon also testified that David was single and 18 years of age at the time of his death, that he never paid hoard, that he bought groceries for the family regularly, that he gave his sister Adele money regularly to buy clothes for herself, that ‘he worked with his daddy and when he was not working with his daddy he was working out’, that at the time of his death he was working for Anderson Brothers. Mrs. Coulon is obviously an uneducated woman as indicated by her testimony and the fact that she did not understand the meaning of the words ‘standard of living’.

“Mr. Leonard Coulon testified that wages and money earned by David in the trucking business were paid to him, the father of said deceased, most of the time, and that David used the entire earnings received by him to buy groceries for the household, to buy what ‘he needed’, and to give his sister money to make purchases for herself. Mr. Coulon testified that David would use his earnings to ‘spend for the family you know’. — ‘That’s what I would say for he didn’t keep any money.’ — ‘He spent it right along with the family.’ In other words, according to Mr. Coulon, 100% of David’s earnings was contributed and used toward the support of Mr. and Mrs. Leonard Cou-lon and in helping them meet their obligations to support their minor children living with them in the family home.

“Mr. Herbert F. Darnell testified that he had employed Mr. Coulon and his truck to haul posts and had hired David Coulon to help him. He further stated that he gave David’s pay or earnings for this work and his services to his father, Leonard Coulon. And when asked the question ‘Was there any particular reason why you paid the father?’, Mr. Darnell replied, ‘Well, the boy and the father all went into the same pot so it didn’t make any difference to me, or words to that effect anyway.’

“As to the net earnings in the trucking business during the year preceding David’s accidental death, Mr. Leonard Coulon testified that the net earnings of him and David after truck expenses were deducted amounted to ‘definitely about fifteen, sixteen hundred some year.’ Mr. Coulon then estimated the total earnings of David during the year prior to his death at eight or nine hundred dollars. The father further stated in this connection ‘I’d say he was my right hand and what I made and he made zvas about the same, because he was a pretty good size man when he got killed.’ And when asked the question, ‘In other words, he and you did identical work?’, Mr. Cou-lon replied, ‘That’s the story.’ — ‘That’s right.’ Mr. Coulon also said that he had a job with the levee board paying $300 per annum in the performance of which he had to bear transportation and other expenses. The defendants did not offer any evidence to refute the above and merely questioned him about a letter from attorney Dejean stating that the ‘Total amount’ (not net amount) earned for hauling averaged about $2000 per annum. And it is also recalled that David and his father worked together in this hauling business and his father collected all money earned by David and himself in this work.

“The undisputed testimony shows that David Coulon contributed all of his earnings to the family and his parents and that all 'of his said earnings were used for the needs of the family and to assist the parents in meeting their legal obligations to support and provide for the needs of their minor children living with them in the family household. The father likewise used all of his earnings for the family and never had over $100 in the bank as a saving. And David never kept for himself any of his earnings — the family received and used all.

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

Related

Castle v. Prudhomme Tank Truck Line, Inc.
417 So. 2d 1205 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1982)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
67 So. 2d 117, 1953 La. App. LEXIS 752, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/coulon-v-anderson-bros-lactapp-1953.