Guest House of Slidell v. Wilson

835 So. 2d 656, 2002 WL 31186660
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedOctober 2, 2002
DocketNos. 2001 CA 2263, 2001 CA 2264
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 835 So. 2d 656 (Guest House of Slidell v. Wilson) 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
Guest House of Slidell v. Wilson, 835 So. 2d 656, 2002 WL 31186660 (La. Ct. App. 2002).

Opinion

_[¿KLINE, J.

Appellant, Georgia Wilson, appeals the decision of the workers’ compensation judge dismissing her claim against appel-lee, Guest House of Slidell, having found that she had not carried her burden of proof that she suffered a back injury due to a work-related accident. For the following reasons, we affirm.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Georgia Wilson was employed as a nurse’s assistant by Guest House of Slidell (“Guest House”). On December 7, 1999, Ms. Wilson was assisting a patient by transporting her from a wheelchair onto a hospital bed. According to Ms. Wilson, as she placed the patient onto the edge of the bed, the bed rolled back. The patient began to roll over, and Ms. Wilson had to “scoop her up and put her back on the bed to keep her from falling on the floor.” After Ms. Wilson got the patient onto the bed, she stood and felt her lower back was hurting.

On January 27, 2000, Guest House filed a claim with the Office of Workers’ Compensation (“OWC”) against Ms. Wilson alleging that Ms. Wilson had forfeited her entitlement to benefits under La. R.S. 23:1208.1. Guest House asserted that Ms. Wilson failed to truthfully answer inquiries set forth in a post-hire medical questionnaire relating to a prior back accident, injury, disability and workers’ compensation claim. On February 22, 2000, Ms. Wilson filed an answer denying the allegation set forth by Guest House and then filed a workers’ compensation claim against Guest House, asserting that she suffered severe back injury as a result of an accident that occurred on December 7, 1999. On March 30, 2000, both matters were consolidated upon motion filed by Guest House. Guest House filed a recon-ventional demand against Ms. Wilson whereby it alleged that Ms. Wilson also was in violation of La. R.S. 23:1208. Ms. Wilson filed an answer denying such claim.

A trial was held on the merits on July 9, 2001. At the trial, Ms. Wilson testified about the facts surrounding the incident and the injuries that resulted. She also testified about the facts surrounding the issue of her prior back injury |3and the circumstances surrounding her answers provided on the questionnaire. No other witnesses were presented by Ms. Wilson.

The OWC judge issued a written judgment on July 26, 2001, stating the following:

After considering the law and evidence as well as having observed the demeanor of those testifying, the Court concludes as follows:
IT IS ORDERED ADJUDGED AND DECREED that the plaintiff, Georgia L. Wilson, has failed to carry her burden of proving a work related accident with injury, thus her claim against, the defendant, Guest House of Slidell is dismissed with prejudice, each party responsible for their costs. [Emphasis added.]

Ms. Wilson appealed this finding and asserts the following assignment of error:

The trial court erred in finding no proof of an accident where there were no substantial factors casting serious [659]*659doubt upon plaintiffs testimony regarding the accident.

Guest House filed an answer to Ms. Wilson’s appeal whereby it asserted that if this appellate court reverses the trial court’s judgment and finds that Ms. Wilson did prove that an accident existed, that the judgment in favor of Guest House should still be affirmed as the trial court erred in finding that Ms. Wilson did not engage in action/inaction in violation of La. R.S. 23:1208 and 1208.1, resulting in forfeiture of all benefits.2

LAW AND DISCUSSION

Factual findings in a workers’ compensation case are subject to the manifest error or clearly wrong standard of appellate review. Banks v. Industrial Roofing & Sheet Metal Works, Inc., 96-2840, p. 7 (La.7/1/97), 696 So.2d 551, 556. For an appellate court to reverse a trial court’s factual finding, it must find from the record that a reasonable factual basis does not exist for the finding of the trial court and that the record establishes that the finding is clearly wrong. Mart v. Hill, 505 So.2d 1120, 1127 (La.1987). If the findings are reasonable in light of the record reviewed in its entirety, an appellate court may not reverse even though convinced that had it been sitting as the trier of fact, it would have weighed the evidence differently. Furthermore, when factual findings |4are based on the credibility of witnesses, the fact finder’s decision to credit a witness’s testimony must be given “great deference” by the appellate court. Rosell v. ESCO, 549 So.2d 840, 844 (La.1989). Thus,'when there is a conflict in the testimony, reasonable evaluations of credibility and reasonable inferences of fact should not be disturbed upon review, although the appellate court may feel that its own evaluations and inferences are as reasonable. Id.

In order for a claimant to be entitled to recover workers’ compensation benefits, she must prove, by a preponderance of the evidence, that a work-related accident occurred and that an injury was sustained. A claimant’s testimony alone may be sufficient to discharge this burden of proof, provided two elements are satisfied: (1) no other evidence discredits or casts serious doubt upon the worker’s version of the incident, and (2) the worker’s testimony is corroborated by the circumstances following the alleged incident. Jackson v. Savant Insurance Company, 96-1424, p. 3 (La.App. 1st Cir.5/9/97), 694 So.2d 1178, 1180. See also Bruno v. Harbert International Inc., 593 So.2d 357, 361 (La.1992).

In workers’ compensation eases, disability is presumed to be the result of the work-related accident if the claimant was in good health before the accident, and the symptoms of the disability appear after the accident and continue to manifest themselves. This presumption is available when sufficient medical evidence is introduced to show a reasonable possibility of a causal connection between the disability and the work-related accident, or that the nature of the accident raises a natural inference that such a causal connection exists. LeBlanc v. Cajun Painting Inc., 94-1609, p. 10 (La.App. 1st Cir.4/7/95), 654 So.2d 800, 807, writs denied, 95-1706, 95-1655 (La.10/27/95), 661 So.2d 1349, 1350. Thus, where there is proof of an accident and a following disability, without an inter-[660]*660vening cause, it is presumed that the accident caused the disability. Jackson v. Savant Insurance Company, 694 So.2d at 1180. Moreover, the fact that a claimant does not realize or diagnose the full extent of his injury immediately after an accident should not bar him from recovery. Middleton v. International Maintenance, 95-0288, pp. 6-7 (La.App. 1st Cir.10/6/95), 671 So.2d 420, 424, writ denied, 95-2682 (La.1/12/96), 667 So.2d 523.

Thus, in determining whether a worker has shown by a preponderance of the evidence that an injury-causing accident occurred in the course and scope of employment, the trier of fact is expected to focus upon the issue of credibility because, absent contradictory circumstances and evidence, a claimant’s testimony is accorded great weight. See Bruno v. Harbert International Inc., 593 So.2d at 361. The determinations by the workers’ compensation judge as to whether the claimant’s testimony is credible and whether the claimant has discharged his burden of proof are factual determinations and will not be disturbed upon review in the absence of manifest error or unless clearly wrong. Id.

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835 So. 2d 656, 2002 WL 31186660, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/guest-house-of-slidell-v-wilson-lactapp-2002.