Dillard's, Inc. v. Nichols

171 So. 3d 307, 14 La.App. 5 Cir. 740, 2015 La. App. LEXIS 1065, 2015 WL 3440318
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMay 28, 2015
DocketNos. 14-CA-740, 14-CA-741
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 171 So. 3d 307 (Dillard's, Inc. v. Nichols) 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.

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Dillard's, Inc. v. Nichols, 171 So. 3d 307, 14 La.App. 5 Cir. 740, 2015 La. App. LEXIS 1065, 2015 WL 3440318 (La. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinion

STEPHEN J. WINDHORST, Judge.

In this workers’ compensation matter the employer, Dillard’s, Inc., appeals from both the initial judgment and the amended judgment rendered by the workers’ compensation court. For the reasons that follow, we reverse the judgment rendered on June 11, 2014 and reinstate the judgment rendered on October 8, 2013.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On February 4, 2012 Leslie Nichols, claimant, was working as a cosmetologist at the Elizabeth Arden counter at Dillard’s Metairie, Louisiana store. While going to lunch, she slipped and fell on the floor. She did not return to work that day. Instead she went home. The following day she went to the Urgent Care Center. Two days later, she was treated at Concentra, the workers’ compensation doctor.

| During this time period, Ms. Nichols was released to return to work without restriction. On February 20, 2012, Ms. Nichols rode in the Orpheus Parade and attended the Orpheus Ball.

On March 12, 2012, Ms. Nichols sought treatment at Advanced Medical Center. She was going for her second visit, on March 14, 2012, when she was involved in a vehicular accident.

On March 19, 2012, Dillard’s filed a disputed claim for compensation, alleging that the Orpheus events and the motor vehicle accident were intervening and superseding causes of her condition. On March 28, 2013, Ms. Nichols filed her disputed claim for compensation, alleging that her initial injuries from the work-related accident were aggravated by the automobile accident.

The claims were consolidated for trial. After a two-day hearing, the workers’ compensation court rendered judgment on October 8, 2013, awarding Ms. Nichols indemnity and medical benefits from February 4, 2012 until February 10, 2012, when she was released to return to work without restrictions. The workers’ compensation court found that Ms. Nichols failed to show a causal connection between the accident of February 4, 2012 and her disability. The court further found that Ms. Nichols’ participation in the Orpheus festivities was an independent intervening ac[310]*310tion, and that Ms. Nichols’ disability status did not change until after the motor vehicle accident.

Ms. Nichols filed a motion for new trial. The workers’ compensation court granted the new trial, however no additional evidence was presented and the matter was submitted on memoranda only. On June 11, 2014, the workers’ compensation court rendered judgment amending its previous judgment. In the amended judgment, the court ruled that Dillard’s was liable for both medical and indemnity benefits up to and continuing after the date of judgment. In her reasons for | judgment, the workers’ compensation judge reiterated that claimant failed to show a causal connection between the February 4, 2012 work accident and her disability. The judge also found that the evidence failed to show a connection between Ms. Nichols’ injuries and her participation in the Mardi Gras parade. The court further ruled however that the motor vehicle accident of March 14, 2012 was compensable and that Ms. Nichols became disabled after the automobile accident. The court then concluded that her ongoing disability was causally connected “between the accident of February 4, 2013 [sic], and the accident of March 14, 2012.”

Dillard’s appeals from both judgments. In this appeal, Dillard’s contends that the workers’ compensation judge erred in finding that Ms. Nichols suffered a work-related accident on February 4, 2012. Dillard’s also contends that the workers’ compensation judge erred in granting Ms. Nichols’ motion for new trial, and amending its judgment to award additional and continuing benefits.

DISCUSSION

The Workers’ Compensation Act set up a court-administered system to aid injured workmen by relatively informal and flexible proceedings. Rhodes v. Lewis, 01-1989 (La.5/14/02), 817 So.2d 64. The provisions of the workers’ compensation law are to be interpreted liberally in favor of the worker. Coats v. AT & T, 95-2670 (La.10/25/96), 681 So.2d 1243.

An employee in a compensation action must establish “personal injury by accident arising out of and in the course of his employment.” La. R.S. 23:1031 A. The Workers’ Compensation Act defines an accident as “an unexpected' or unforeseen actual, identifiable, precipitous event happening suddenly or violently, with or without human fault, and directly producing at the time objective findings of an injury which is more than simply a gradual deterioration or progressive degeneration.” La. R.S. 23:1021(1). The employee in a compensation action has |Bthe burden of establishing a work-related accident by a preponderance of the evidence. Marange v. Custom Metal Fabricators, Inc., 11-2678 (La.07/02/12), 93 So.3d 1253, 1257.

Factual findings in a workers’ compensation case are subject to the manifest error or clearly wrong standard of appellate review. Lopez v. Marques Food Distribs., 12-482 (La.App. 5 Cir. 02/21/13), 110 So.3d 1132, 1136. In reviewing a judgment, the court is compelled to consider the record in its entirety to determine whether the trial court’s finding was clearly wrong or manifestly erroneous. Id. In applying the manifest error/clearly wrong standard, the appellate court must determine not whether the trier of fact was right or wrong, but whether the factfin-der’s conclusion was a reasonable one. Id. If the factual findings are reasonable in light of the record reviewed in its entirety, the court of appeal may not reverse, even if convinced that had it been sitting as the trier of fact, it would have weighed the evidence differently. Marange, 93 So.3d [311]*311at 1260 (citing Stobart v. State, DOTD, 617 So.2d 880, 883 (La.1993)).

In its first two assignments of error, Dillard’s argues that the trial court erred in finding that claimant proved by a preponderance of the evidence that the February 4, 2012 fall was an accident within the definition of the Louisiana Workers’ Compensation Act, and in finding that the February 4, 2012 fall caused injury to her left shoulder, neck, lower back, unidentified arm, right elbow and knee. Dillard’s argues that, while it is undisputed that claimant “fell” to the ground on February 4, 2012, the evidence shows that the fall was not “unexpected or unforeseen,” and instead was at the very least deliberate and possibly even staged.

The following evidence was presented at trial. On February, 4, 2012, employee Ebony Brown was nauseous, and she vomited near the exit doors leaving the sales floor. Austin Frazer, a maintenance man, put a chemical on top of the [(¡fluid, and began to clean it up. A yellow caution sign was also put up, and employee Ltonia Forde and manager Mandy Hahlos directed people to walk around the spill. Approximately 20 people successfully navigated the area.

Ms. Nichols was on her way to lunch, and stated that she was not paying attention to her surroundings.1 Ms. Nichols admitted that she saw the caution sign, and she also saw Ms. Hahlos holding open the door. She saw Ms. Hahlos and another woman talking, but did not pay attention to what they were saying. Ms. Nichols also said that a woman named “Linda” was mopping, but she did not see Linda because she was behind the door. Ms. Nichols said that she stepped in the fluid and slipped and fell. She went down “hard,’’.her body twisted and she hit her right knee, right hip and right elbow. Her left arm “flew out like a rubber band.” She also stated that she was bleeding. Ms.

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171 So. 3d 307, 14 La.App. 5 Cir. 740, 2015 La. App. LEXIS 1065, 2015 WL 3440318, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dillards-inc-v-nichols-lactapp-2015.