Gremillion v. Babst Services, Inc.

405 So. 2d 675, 1981 La. App. LEXIS 5359
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedOctober 13, 1981
DocketNo. 5-10
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 405 So. 2d 675 (Gremillion v. Babst Services, Inc.) 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
Gremillion v. Babst Services, Inc., 405 So. 2d 675, 1981 La. App. LEXIS 5359 (La. Ct. App. 1981).

Opinion

CHEHARDY, Judge.

Plaintiff, Emmette Gremillion, appeals a district court decision in favor of defendants, Babst Services, Inc., et ais., and against the plaintiff, dismissing his claims for workmen’s compensation benefits at his costs.

As part of his judgment, the trial court judge stated:

“Petitioner Emmette Gremillion contends that he is totally and permanently disabled due to the inhalation of carbon monoxide fumes while he operated a machine called a ‘cherry picker.’
“The machine did not have a cab, and Mr. Gremillion sat on one end while the exhaust was at the opposite end, at least 10 feet away.
“After considering the testimony of the various witnesses, medical and otherwise, the Court cannot conclude that Mr. Grem-illion proved that his disability, whatever it is, was causally related to his operation of the ‘cherry picker’.
“The preponderance of the medical evidence indicates that Mr. Gremillion is hypertensive and has borderline retardation of long standing but no organic brain damage due to his employment.”

At a trial on the merits of the case the plaintiff testified that on December 11, 1974 he was employed by Babst Services, Inc., as a heavy equipment operator, and specifically he had been operating a piece of machinery or vehicle commonly called a “cherry picker” for a year and a half or two years prior to his disability. He described it as having four rubber wheels and a boom, and he stated it used gasoline as fuel. He added that the machine had no cab for the driver, nor did it have a windshield.

The plaintiff testified he operated the machine five days a week, eight hours a day, sometimes also doing “a lot” of overtime. When asked about the condition of the cherry picker, Gremillion said it smoked a lot and that smoke would come from both sides and whichever way the wind would be shifting “sometimes it would come right up in your face from the bottom.”

[677]*677The plaintiff further testified that on December 10, 1974 he started feeling weak, was making a lot of mistakes, and he assumed he must have passed out because he urinated on his clothes. He added that on December 11, 1974 he began to feel weak and dizzy and left work, later passing out on the highway and subsequently calling his wife who took him to a hospital.

Dr. Joseph Braud, a general practitioner, testified that on examining the plaintiff in the emergency room of Flint-Goodrieh Hospital on December 11, 1974 he found him to be apprehensive, confused and talking irrationally; that he had difficulty walking; and that he had multiple complaints in reference to his head, back and legs. He said he received positive findings on the Babin-ski test done on the plaintiff indicating some neurological damage, but that a skull x-ray and electroencephalogram were normal. He felt at the time that the plaintiff had an acute brain syndrome. The doctor added that plaintiff’s blood pressure was 160 over 120.

Dr. Braud had continued to see the plaintiff over the intervening years and up until the time of trial. He noted that Gremil-lion’s generalized complaints of nervousness, headaches, dizziness, pain in his back and upper legs continued. Dr. Braud opined that the plaintiff was in need of maintenance and supportive therapy on an indefinite or perhaps a permanent basis and explained he has treated him with various tranquilizers, muscle relaxants, as well as medications for the headaches and dizziness. As of June 1976 Dr. Braud’s reports indicated he thought Gremillion may have a conversion reaction and should be evaluated by a psychiatrist. He also said that based on the history of his condition, he felt in all probability the plaintiff had had a reaction from inhaling toxic fumes and, subsequently, his acute brain syndrome led into a conversion type of reaction. This physician did not feel the plaintiff would ever be able to work again.

Dr. Charles Moan, a clinical psychologist, testified he had examined and tested the plaintiff and the overall results of the testing indicated a person of borderline intelligence who seemed to be displaying no specific brain damage, no localized brain damage, but that borderline retardation was found indicating a generalized organic problem. Dr. Moan stated he did not test the plaintiff for a conversion reaction nor did his testing rule out his having had an acute brain syndrome in December of 1974.

Dr. Robert Davis, a psychiatrist, evaluated the plaintiff on three occasions in 1976, 1977 and 1979 and testified there was evidence of organic brain dysfunction manifested primarily by his confusion and disorganization. He stated the findings of a CAT scan, a sophisticated x-ray of the brain, which he ordered for the patient to undergo, was normal. He also stated that when he received the results of a neurological examination done by Dr. Maria Palmer he revised his diagnosis to a conversion reaction, a psychological response to stress which is a type of neurotic mental illness. Dr. Davis also said that assuming Gremil-lion had had an acute brain syndrome, such a severe stress could trigger off the conversion reaction. He also stated that, in his opinion, the plaintiff was disabled to the extent he could no longer be a heavy equipment operator.

Dr. Palmer, a neurologist, testified that when she examined the plaintiff in January of 1977 her impression, from his history and symptoms, was that he had been exposed to something that had caused him to have an acute organic brain syndrome which was characterized by the headaches and confusion and passing out. She added that exposure to carbon monoxide can be cumulative, depending on how severe it is.

Dr. Raeburn Llewellyn, a neurosurgeon, testified he examined the plaintiff in May of 1975. At that time, he said he was impressed with his uncomfortableness, felt that he was incapacitated and should have hospitalization. He also said the symptoms he found in the plaintiff at that time could have been precipitated by inhalation of fumes in December of 1974, although he stated a problem such as that falls within the specialty of the medical neurologist.

[678]*678Dr. Tom Oelsner, an expert in the field of internal medicine, said he examined Gremil-lion in May of 1976. In regard to whether the symptoms exhibited in the past and at the time he saw the plaintiff could be due to any toxic substance which he inhaled, the physician explained:

“Well I think that sufficient exposure to gasoline exhaust fumes can produce some of these symptoms on an acute basis. That is if one gets sufficient carbon monoxide in particular then one can be overcome by it and actually lose consciousness but prior to losing consciousness one might develop dizziness and headaches and ultimately confusion and ultimately lose consciousness. However, once the patient is removed from the exposure to these exhaust fumes and provided he survives the exposure to the exhaust fumes then the carbon monoxide are exhaled over the succeeding time usually a maximum of twenty-four hours so the symptoms should be gone. The fact that he was never overcome by the fumes during exposure would indicate to me that the symptoms that he was experiencing subsequent to the exposure are not related to it. In other words, the worse symptoms are during exposure and they would diminish with the passage of time. In his case his symptoms were less severe during exposure and got worse on his way home.”

Dr.

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Related

Wallen v. Simpson
518 So. 2d 1144 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1987)
Gremillion v. Babst Services, Inc.
418 So. 2d 637 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1982)

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405 So. 2d 675, 1981 La. App. LEXIS 5359, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gremillion-v-babst-services-inc-lactapp-1981.