Fluitt v. Christus Health Cent. Louisiana

935 So. 2d 369, 2006 WL 1749594
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJune 28, 2006
Docket2005-0945
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 935 So. 2d 369 (Fluitt v. Christus Health Cent. Louisiana) 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
Fluitt v. Christus Health Cent. Louisiana, 935 So. 2d 369, 2006 WL 1749594 (La. Ct. App. 2006).

Opinion

935 So.2d 369 (2006)

Janice FLUITT
v.
CHRISTUS HEALTH CENTRAL LOUISIANA d/b/a St. Frances Cabrini Hospital.

No. 2005-0945.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Third Circuit.

June 28, 2006.
Rehearing Denied August 16, 2006.

*371 Edward E. Roberts, III, Neblett, Beard & Arsenault, Alexandria, LA, for Plaintiff/Appellee, Janice Fluitt.

Kathryn Flower Van Hoof, Van Hoof Law Firm, Lecompte, LA, for Defendant/Appellant, Christus Health Central Louisiana d/b/a St. Frances Cabrini Hospital.

Court composed of JIMMIE C. PETERS, J. DAVID PAINTER and JAMES T. GENOVESE, Judges.

PETERS, J.

Christus Health Central Louisiana d/b/a Christus St. Frances Cabrini Hospital (Cabrini) has appealed a judgment which awarded its former employee, Janice Fluitt, workers' compensation disability and medical benefits for injuries she sustained while working in the course and scope of her employment with Cabrini. For the following reasons, we affirm the judgment in all respects.[1]

DISCUSSION OF THE RECORD

Ms. Fluitt began working for Cabrini soon after she obtained her nursing license in April of 1997, and in August of 2002 she was still employed by Cabrini as an oncology nurse. This litigation arose because Ms. Fluitt claims to have injured her left knee on August 17 and 18, 2002, while in the course and scope of her employment with Cabrini. When her employer refused to compensate her for that injury, Ms. Fluitt filed a claim for compensation asserting that she suffered a compensable injury to her left knee on August 17, 2002.[2] She filed her claim on July 3, 2003, and the *372 matter went to trial before the workers' compensation judge (WCJ) on January 20, 2005.

At trial, the WCJ heard the testimony of Ms. Fluitt and three other witnesses. However, no physicians or other healthcare providers testified, and all of the evidence with regard to the medical issues was provided by extensive medical exhibits filed by both litigants. After completion of the evidentiary portion of the trial, the WCJ took the matter under advisement. In its March 11, 2005 oral reasons for judgment, the WCJ found that Ms. Fluitt sustained a compensable injury while in Cabrini's employment and awarded her indemnity benefits and medical expenses, but denied her claim for penalties and attorney fees. The WCJ executed a written judgment on May 23, 2005, awarding Ms. Fluitt temporary total disability benefits (TTDs) in the amount of $398.00 per week for the period beginning on August 18, 2002, and terminating on December 17, 2002; supplemental earnings benefits (SEBs) in that same weekly amount from December 17, 2002, until further orders of the court; and medical expenses totaling $26,032.61.

Cabrini timely appealed this judgment, asserting the following assignments of error:

1. The Office of Workers' Compensation erred in factually determining that the last day of work on August 18, 2005[sic] was due to knee problems and that a knee injury occurred at work on August 17, 2002 and on August 18, 2002, when that finding is unsupported by the record.
2. The Office of Workers' Compensation erred in factually determining that chiropractic treatment for the left knee was for the claimant's husband, and thus failing to consider all chiropractic evidence, when that finding is not supported by the record.
3. The Office of Workers' Compensation erred as a matter of law in determining that the burden of proof is on the employer to show there is no disability.
4. The Office of Workers' Compensation erred in awarding temporary total disability benefits for disability and medical benefits during the period [sic] August 18, 2002 through December 17, 2002.
5. The Office of Workers' Compensation erred in factually determining that light duty work was not available as of December 17, 2002 and in awarding SEBs from that date and continuing thereafter and medical benefits, a finding which is not supported by the record.

OPINION

The evidentiary record establishes without dispute that Ms. Fluitt worked a complete shift at Cabrini on the weekend of August 17 and 18, 2002. She testified that while working on August 17, 2002, her left knee buckled under her as she walked up a ramp in the hospital to retrieve medicines sent from the hospital pharmacy to the floor where she was working. When her knee buckled, she "caught" herself on the adjacent handrail and continued up the ramp. She did not recall whether she reported that particular incident to the charge nurse or supervisor,[3] and she completed her shift without further incident.

*373 The next day, according to Ms. Fluitt, her knee buckled three additional times. The first time that day occurred at approximately 9:30 a.m. as she maneuvered through several obstacles in a patient's room to turn on a light at the patient's request. The second time occurred at approximately 2:00 p.m. while she was in the restroom. The third time occurred at approximately 5:30 p.m. as she walked from the nurse's station to a table used to make entries in patient charts. On each of these three occasions, a clearly audible popping sound emanated from the knee as it buckled.

Ms. Fluitt testified that she immediately reported the first August 18 incident to Lynn Durr, the charge nurse on duty. She did so because immediately after the knee buckled, it began burning. However, according to Ms. Fluitt, Ms. Durr did not prepare a written incident report because the staff was extremely busy at the time. Ms. Fluitt completed her shift, but the next morning her knee was extremely swollen and the accompanying pain prevented her from walking or even placing any weight on her left leg. Ms. Fluitt never returned to work with Cabrini.

Ms. Durr's trial testimony supported Ms. Fluitt's testimony with regard to the first and last buckling incident of August 18. With regard to the first incident, she testified that she observed Ms. Fluitt leaving a patient's room, rubbing her knee and complaining that her knee was weak. She also testified that she observed Ms. Fluitt's left knee buckle as Ms. Fluitt walked toward the table used for charting work and that, when it buckled, she heard a popping sound. According to Ms. Durr, Ms. Fluitt "looked surprised and scared at the same time." She further acknowledged that, as the charge nurse for that shift, she was the person to whom Ms. Fluitt would have reported any accident. Although she did not recall completing an incident report on that day, she did confirm Ms. Fluitt's testimony that the oncology unit was often extremely busy with patients and that other things simply had to wait.[4]

The medical exhibits submitted at trial establish that Ms. Fluitt sought treatment for her left knee condition from three physicians and a chiropractor: Dr. Chris Rich, an Alexandria, Louisiana, orthopedic surgeon; Dr. Barry Henry, a Lafayette, Louisiana, orthopedic surgeon; Dr. Mohammad I. Shbeeb, an Alexandria, Louisiana, rheumatologist; and Dr. Kemp J. Nelson, an Alexandria, Louisiana chiropractor. Dr. Rich treated her with physical therapy and pain medication; Dr. Shbeeb saw her on only one occasion for evaluation at the request of Dr. Rich; Dr. Henry performed surgery on Ms. Fluitt's left knee and repaired a torn meniscus; and Dr. Nelson saw her on at least one occasion, August 26, 2002.[5] All of this medical evaluation and treatment occurred between Ms. Fluitt's first visit with Dr. Rich on August 20, 2002, and Dr. Henry's surgery on November 14, 2002.

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935 So. 2d 369, 2006 WL 1749594, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/fluitt-v-christus-health-cent-louisiana-lactapp-2006.