Ewing v. Sanson

394 So. 2d 849
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedFebruary 9, 1981
Docket7773
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 394 So. 2d 849 (Ewing v. Sanson) 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
Ewing v. Sanson, 394 So. 2d 849 (La. Ct. App. 1981).

Opinion

394 So.2d 849 (1981)

Gary L. EWING et ux., Plaintiffs and Appellees-Appellants,
v.
Bernard C. SANSON et al., Defendants,
and
Hartford Accident & Indemnity Company, Defendant, Appellant-Appellee.

No. 7773.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Third Circuit.

February 9, 1981.

*850 Gist, Methvin, Hughes & Munsterman, John W. Munsterman, Alexandria, for defendant-appellant.

William Henry Sanders, Jena, and Edward A. Kaplan, Alexandria, for plaintiffs-appellees-appellants.

McLure & McLure, John G. McLure, Alexandria, for defendant-appellee.

Trimble, Randow, Smith & Wilson, James T. Trimble, Jr., and Alonzo P. Wilson, Alexandria, for defendant-appellee.

Richard S. Vale, Metairie, for intervenor-appellee.

Before CULPEPPER, SWIFT and DOUCET, Judges.

DOUCET, Judge.

This personal injury suit was brought by Gary L. Ewing and his wife, Janet C. Ewing, as a result of an automobile accident, which took place on September 20, 1978. Gary Ewing was driving a 1978 Ford automobile owned by Lewis Roy Motors, Inc. of Marksville, Louisiana. He was acting within the course and scope of his employment by Walker Bait Farm, and his wife was a guest passenger in the automobile. They were proceeding in a southerly direction on Louisiana Highway 1 when they collided with a 1973 Buick owned and driven by Bernard C. Sanson. Sanson had been traveling in an easterly direction on Louisiana Highway 457 and had failed to yield the right-of-way to Ewing by running a posted stop sign at the intersection of the two highways. Both automobiles were demolished, and Mr. and Mrs. Ewing sustained multiple injuries. They were removed from the scene by ambulance and taken to a local hospital for treatment.

This suit followed in which numerous defendants were named through seven supplemental and amending petitions. As the suit *851 progressed, some of the defendants were dismissed. Among those dismissed was United States Fidelity and Guaranty Company (hereinafter referred to as U.S.F.&G.), the insurer of the Ewings' personal automobile, which was not involved in the accident. U.S.F.&G. was dismissed when it paid the Ewings $5,000.00 under the uninsured motorist provision of the policy that it had issued to them. The defendants that remained when the suit was tried were:

1) Bernard C. Sanson;

2) Commercial Union Insurance Company (hereinafter referred to as Commercial Union), Sanson's liability insurer;

3) Hartford Accident & Indemnity Company (hereinafter referred to as Hartford), Lewis Roy Motors' liability insurer; and

4) Employers Mutual Liability Insurance Company of Wisconsin (hereinafter referred to as Employers), Walker Bait Farm's automobile liability and workmen's compensation insurer.

Employers intervened, seeking the recovery of $2,386.73 in workmen's compensation benefits, which it paid to Gary Ewing as a result of injuries that he sustained in the accident. On October 11, 1979, eight days prior to the trial, Commercial Union paid $5,295.00 to each plaintiff, exhausting the limits of the policy that it had issued to Sanson.

After the trial, judgment was rendered in favor of Gary Ewing and against Hartford and Sanson, in solido, in the amount of $20,000.00 for general damages, plus $12,-939.29 for past and future medical expenses, subject to a credit of $5,295.00, the amount paid by Commercial Union. Judgment was also rendered in favor of Janet Ewing and against Hartford and Sanson, in solido, in the amount of $42,000 for general damages, subject to a credit of $5,295.00. The judgment declares that its enforcement against Sanson is limited to a total of $4,000.00, $2,000.00 to each plaintiff. It also states that the liability of Commercial Union is limited to the $10,590.00 that it paid to the plaintiffs prior to the trial and that the judgment against Sanson is in addition to that amount. The Ewings' demands against Employers were dismissed. All pre-trial costs were taxed to Commercial Union and Hartford in the amount of one-half each, and all trial costs were taxed to Hartford.

Hartford appealed suspensively. The Ewings appealed devolutively and answered Hartford's appeal, seeking an increase in the amounts awarded to them and judgment against Employers in the event that the judgment against Hartford is reversed. They later amended their answer to Hartford's appeal, seeking penalties and attorney's fees for the defendant insurers' failure to pay their medical claims. Sanson also answered Hartford's appeal, asking that the amount of the judgment against him be reduced to $500.00 for each plaintiff, and that the judgment be modified to provide that he is individually liable for that amount only, rather than solidarily liable with Hartford. Commercial Union joined in Sanson's answer, asking that the judgment be modified to make no award whatsoever against it, or in the alternative, to provide that it is only liable for its proportionate share of the costs.

QUANTUM

The evidence concerning the plaintiffs' injuries was succinctly summarized by the trial judge in his written reasons for judgment. We adopt his summary as follows:

"The record reflects that upon admission to the hospital both plaintiffs were complaining of painful headaches and were diagnosed as having cerebral concussions. It was also obvious to the admitting doctors that both plaintiffs had received multiple abrasions and lacerations over their entire body from the accident.
"Mr. Ewing remained in the hospital for nine days. He was treated for a puncture wound in his right bicep and for a soft tissue injury to his right elbow (which required surgery October 23, 1979, one week after evidence was heard in this case). He later complained of low back pain which should subside with time and *852 of neck pain which was diagnosed as an acute cervical sprain which should subside with time but with no disc involvement. All the tests on Mr. Ewing were negative as to any neurological damage. Because of these injuries, Mr. Ewing was unable to work for two months. He testified that when he returned to work, he was in much pain because of the heavy manual labor required. He has had to restrict some of his recreational activities and continues, upon exertion, to have pain from accident-related injuries. Headaches have persisted since the accident but with decreasing frequency.
* * * * * *
"Mrs. Ewing also stayed in the hospital for nine days. Upon admission a large cut in her upper lip was sutured and this has left a small disfiguring bump on her upper lip. She had a cut by her right eye which was also sutured but she still complains of blurred vision in that eye when driving. She also testified of photophobia and headaches up to the time of trial. She sustained neck pain which, when examined, showed `severe tenderness with sever muscle spasms.' This was later diagnosed by her orthopedist as `acute cervical strain' which is worsening and could become chronic but not requiring surgery without further testing. She has also testified to a tingling feeling down her leg and of back pain in her lumbar region which has been diagnosed as a `sprain with possible disc involvement.' Mrs. Ewing also fractured her jaw and sustained fractures and loosening of three of her teeth, resulting in much pain and tenderness. She was seen in the hospital by a dentist who, after her discharge, performed root canal work and general dentistry treatment. Future root canal work has been prescribed which could result in her jaws being wired for eight weeks.

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Bluebook (online)
394 So. 2d 849, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ewing-v-sanson-lactapp-1981.