Davis v. State, Department of Transportation & Development

75 So. 3d 549, 11 La.App. 3 Cir. 404, 2011 La. App. LEXIS 1213, 2011 WL 4579195
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedOctober 5, 2011
DocketNo. 11-404
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 75 So. 3d 549 (Davis v. State, Department of Transportation & Development) 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
Davis v. State, Department of Transportation & Development, 75 So. 3d 549, 11 La.App. 3 Cir. 404, 2011 La. App. LEXIS 1213, 2011 WL 4579195 (La. Ct. App. 2011).

Opinion

GENOVESE, Judge.

| ,In this workers compensation case, claimant, Judy Davis, appeals the judgment of the Office of Workers’ Compensation (OWC) granting the Exception of Res Judicata filed by her employer, State of Louisiana, Department of Transportation and Development, and the Office of Risk Management (the State). For the following reasons, we affirm.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Ms. Davis sustained three work-related accidents during the course of her employment with the State for which she received indemnity benefits. A dispute later arose prompting Ms. Davis to file a Disputed Claim for Compensation (1008) on December 16, 2004, bearing OWC docket number 04-9196, wherein she set forth that a bona-fide dispute existed with regard to the: (1) “[ejxtent and duration of disability[;(2) “[failure to pay indemnity benefits[;]” (8) “[failure to pay for medical treatment[;]” (4) “[failure to provide vocational rehabilitation^]” (5) “[f]ailure to provide treatment for fibromyalgia[;]” and (6) “[penalties and attorney fees[.]” The matter was tried on December 7, 2007. On February 11, 2008, the workers’ compensation judge (WCJ), in his oral reasons for judgment, ruled in favor of the State, finding that Ms. Davis had failed to prove her entitlement to workers’ compensation benefits, and the WCJ signed a judgment consistent therewith on April 17, 2008. Ms. Davis filed a Motion for New Trial. Following a hearing, the WCJ denied the Motion for New Trial and signed a judgment consistent therewith on July 11, 2008.

On the day of the December 7, 2007 trial, Ms. Davis filed a new 1008 bearing OWC docket number 07-09286. In this 1008, Ms. Davis asserted that a bona-fide dispute existed with regard to the: (1) payment of incorrect compensation rate; (2) failure to authorize medical treatment recommended by |2Pr. Garcia; (8) “[ejx-tent and duration of disability[(4) “[failure to pay indemnity benefits[;]” (5) “failure to pay for medical treatment^]” (6) “[f]ailure to provide vocational rehabilitation^]” (7) “[fjailure to provide treatment for fibromyalgia[;]” (8) “[penalties and attorney fees[;]” (9) “[l]egal interest^]” (10) average weekly wage; and (11) “[fjringe [b]enefits[.]” The State responded with an Exception of Res Judicata, alleging that the claims asserted in the new 1008 arose out of the same transaction or occurrence which was the subject of the April 17, 2008 judgment. The WCJ granted the State’s Exception of Res Judicata, dismissed Ms. Davis’ additional claims, and signed a judgment in accordance therewith on March 4, 2009.

Ms. Davis appealed both the April 17, 2008 judgment from the trial on the merits and the March 4, 2009 judgment granting the State’s Exception of Res Judicata. On appeal, this court affirmed the April 17, 2008 judgment from the trial on the merits, but reversed the WCJ’s grant of the State’s Exception of Res Judicata,1 finding [551]*551that Ms. Davis’ appellate relief had not yet been exhausted as to the April 17, 2008 judgment at the time the Exception of Res Judicata was granted. Writs were denied by our supreme court. Id.; Davis v. State ex rel. Dep’t of Transp. & Dev., Office of Risk Mgmt., 09-672 (La.App. 3 Cir. 11/10/09), 27 So.3d 986, writ denied, 10-346 (La.6/4/10), 38 So.3d 302.

When Ms. Davis requested that OWC docket number 07-09286 be set for trial, the State filed another Exception of Res Judicata. Following a December 13, 1r2010 hearing, the WCJ again granted the State’s Exception of Res Judicata and dismissed OWC docket number 07-09286 with prejudice. A judgment reflecting same was signed by the WCJ from which Ms. Davis now appeals.

ISSUE

The sole issue presented by Ms. Davis for our review is: “Did the WCJ error [sic], as a matter of law, in granting [the State’s] [E]xception of [R]es [J]udicata for the second time?”

LAW AND DISCUSSION

Standard of Review

“The res judicata effect of a prior judgment is a question of law that is reviewed de novo.” Fogleman v. Meaux Surface Prot., Inc., 10-1210, p. 2 (La.App. 3 Cir. 3/9/11), 58 So.3d 1057, 1059, writ denied, 11-712 (La.5/27/11), 63 So.3d 995 (quoting Morales v. Parish of Jefferson, 10-273, p. 6 (La.App. 5 Cir. 11/9/10), 54 So.3d 669, 672). Therefore, we will conduct a de novo review of the record to determine whether the WCJ was legally correct in granting the State’s Exception of Res Judicata.

Exception of Res Judicata

As noted above, this court reversed the WCJ’s initial grant of the State’s Exception of Res Judicata and did so based on the following reasons:

While [La.R.S.] 13:4231 generally addresses res judicata, workers’ compensation cases have an even more specific reference in [La.R.S.] 23:1310.8(E) which provides that “[a] judgment denying benefits is res judicata after the claimant has exhausted his rights of appeal[.]” Accordingly, as the initial judgment denied benefits and appellate rights had not yet been exhausted, the exception of res judicata was improperly granted. We reverse the granting of the exception of res judicata.

Davis, 27 So.3d 969, 977. However, the appellate rights of Ms. Davis as to the April 17, 2008 judgment on the merits have now been exhausted.

14The elements of res judicata set forth in La.R.S. 13:4231 are as follows:

Except as otherwise provided by law, a valid and final judgment is conclusive between the same parties, except on appeal or other direct review, to the following extent:
(1) If the judgment is in favor of the plaintiff, all causes of action existing at the time of final judgment arising out of the transaction or occurrence that is the subject matter of the litigation are extinguished and merged in the judgment.
(2) If the judgment is in favor of the defendant, all causes of action existing at the time of final judgment arising out of the transaction or occurrence that is the subject matter of the litigation are extinguished and the judgment bars a [552]*552subsequent action on those causes of action.
(8) A judgment in favor of either the plaintiff or the defendant is conclusive, in any subsequent action between them, with respect to any issue actually litigated and determined if its determination was essential to that judgment.

These statutory requirements have been succinctly summarized as follows:

The peremptory exception of res judi-cata bars a subsequent judgment when “1) both cases involve the same parties; 2) the prior judgment was rendered by a court of competent jurisdiction; 3) the prior decision was a final judgment on the merits; and 4) the same cause of action is at issue in both cases.”

Zeno v. Flowers Baking Co., 10-1413, p. 6 (La.App. 3 Cir. 4/6/11), 62 So.3d 303, 307 (quoting Jones ex rel. Jones v. GEO Group, Inc., 08-1276, p. 5 (La.App. 3 Cir. 4/1/09), 6 So.3d 1021, 1025).

In the instant case, Ms. Davis, in brief, “concedes, obviously, that the first three pre-requisites for the application of res judicata have been met.” She argues that the fourth pre-requisite, i.e., “the same cause of action is at issue in both cases,” is absent, thereby precluding a grant of the Exception of Res Judicata. Id.

Ms.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
75 So. 3d 549, 11 La.App. 3 Cir. 404, 2011 La. App. LEXIS 1213, 2011 WL 4579195, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/davis-v-state-department-of-transportation-development-lactapp-2011.