Guidry v. Gueydan Co-Op. Dryer, Inc.

706 So. 2d 146, 1997 WL 758074
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMarch 12, 1998
Docket97-874
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 706 So. 2d 146 (Guidry v. Gueydan Co-Op. Dryer, 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
Guidry v. Gueydan Co-Op. Dryer, Inc., 706 So. 2d 146, 1997 WL 758074 (La. Ct. App. 1998).

Opinion

706 So.2d 146 (1997)

Frank Ed GUIDRY, Claimant-Appellant,
v.
GUEYDAN COOPERATIVE DRYER, INC., Defendant-Appellee.

No. 97-874.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Third Circuit.

December 10, 1997.
Order on Rehearing March 12, 1998.

*147 Bernard Francis Duhon, Abbeville, for Frank Ed Guidry.

Sammie M. Henry, Baton Rouge, for Gueydan Co-op Dryer, Inc.

Before THIBODEAUX, AMY and SULLIVAN, JJ.

*148 AMY, Judge.

Frank Ed Guidry appeals the workers' compensation judge's grant of the defendant's peremptory exception of no cause of action/no right of action. For the following reasons, we reverse.

DISCUSSION OF THE RECORD

On September 16, 1996, Frank Ed Guidry, entered into a contract with the defendant, Gueydan Cooperative Dryer, Inc., to perform welding repair work. In return for his services, Mr. Guidry was to be paid an hourly rate of $25.00.[1] Then, on October 17, 1996, several weeks into the repairs, Mr. Guidry was allegedly injured when the hoist he was using to reach the rice dryer he was repairing broke, causing him to fall four feet onto a concrete surface, injuring his back.

Mr. Guidry, claiming entitlement to medical and workers' compensation benefits, filed a disputed claim for compensation with the Office of Workers' Compensation. In response, Gueydan Cooperative Dryer, Inc. filed a peremptory exception of no cause of action/no right of action.[2] On May 6, 1997, "[a]fter hearing the testimony, reviewing the documentary evidence and apply[ing] the law thereto," the workers' compensation judge found Mr. Guidry to be an independent contractor, not engaged in manual labor or performing work that was "part of the trade, business or occupation of Gueydan Cooperative Dryer, a rice drying cooperative." In so finding, the workers' compensation judge sustained the exception of no cause of action/no right of action and dismissed Mr. Guidry's claim with prejudice.

Mr. Guidry appeals, assigning numerous assignments of error. However, we find that review of assignment number two, that "[t]he trial court was clearly wrong and made errors of law in sustaining the Exception of No Cause of Action [,]" is dispositive of this appeal. Therefore, we pretermit discussion on Mr. Guidry's remaining assignments of error.

LAW

As in the case sub judice, where there are no applicable provisions in the Louisiana Worker's Compensation Act, procedural matters are controlled by the Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure. Piper v. Dillard's Dep't Store, 621 So.2d 865 (La.App. 4 Cir.), writ denied, 627 So.2d 654 (La.1993). Article 931 of the Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure provides for instances when evidence is admissible to support or controvert a peremptory exception. While evidence is allowed in most cases, article 931 expressly prohibits the introduction of evidence when the peremptory exception under consideration is that the petition fails to state a cause of action. La.Code Civ.P. art. 931. As such, when testing the legal sufficiency of the petition to state a cause of action, a court or tribunal must look only to the face of the petition to ascertain whether there are sufficient facts alleged to establish a case cognizable in law. Craft v. Allstate Ins. Co., 95-160 (La.App. 3 Cir. 8/30/95), 663 So.2d 116, writ denied, 95-2403 (La.12/15/95), 664 So.2d 454. If sufficient facts do exist, the peremptory exception of no cause of action must fail. Rebman v. Reed, 286 So.2d 341 (La.1973). For purposes of the determination, all allegations presented in the petition are accepted as true, and any doubts are to be resolved in favor of the sufficiency of the petition. Weber v. State, 93-0062 (La.4/11/94), 635 So.2d 188.

After reviewing Mr. Guidry's disputed claim form, as amended, we find that the allegations, when accepted as true, support a cause of action for workers' compensation benefits. In the completed LDOL-WC 1008, Mr. Guidry alleged that he was an independent contract welder injured while "welding plates on the rice dryer" at Gueydan Cooperative Dryer, Inc. Subsequently, Mr. Guidry amended his petition to add that he was entitled to compensation under the "manual labor exception to the Contractor exemption [to] the Compensation act." Therefore, while Mr. Guidry's status, as a manual laborer *149 injured while carrying out contracted services that are part of the employer's trade, business, or occupation,[3] must be proven by him at a hearing on the merits, the workers' compensation judge erred when she found that the claimant's petition for compensation did not state a cause of action. Further, it was error for the workers' compensation tribunal to allow testimony on this question[4].

Accordingly, we find that the workers' compensation judge erred as a matter of law when she dismissed Mr. Guidry's claim on a peremptory exception of no cause of action. Since we find that the claimant's petition alleged sufficient facts to sustain a cause of action, "as a matter of substantial justice, [he is] entitled to have his case heard further." Craft, 95-160, p. 6, 663 So.2d at 118.

DECREE

For the foregoing reasons, the decision of the workers' compensation judge sustaining the defendant's exception of no cause of action is reversed. The matter is remanded to the Office of Workers' Compensation for further proceedings. All costs of this appeal are assessed to the defendant, Gueydan Cooperative Dryer, Inc.

REVERSED AND REMANDED.

ON REHEARING

AMY, Judge.

Frank Ed Guidry, in a petition for rehearing, noted that, in our earlier opinion, this court did not address his contention that the workers' compensation judge erred in sustaining Gueydan Cooperative Dryer, Inc.'s exception of no right of action. We do so now.

In Gorum v. Louisiana Hosp. Ass'n. Employee Benefit Trust, 95-468, pp. 3-4 (La. App. 3 Cir. 11/2/95), 664 So.2d 662, 664, this court stated:

The exception [of no right of action] is appropriate when a plaintiff does not have an interest in the subject matter of the suit or legal capacity to proceed with suit in a particular case. Moyers v. Altmann, 594 So.2d 6 (La.App. 3 Cir.1992). "The main function of a peremptory exception of no right of action is to raise the question of whether a remedy afforded by law can be invoked by a particular plaintiff." Id. at 8.

Therefore, in order to maintain an action in workers' compensation, Mr. Guidry must show that he falls into one of the covered classes provided for in the Louisiana Workers' Compensation Act.

The evidence is clear that Gueydan Cooperative Dryer, Inc. entered into a contract agreement with Mr. Guidry for certain welding repairs to the rice dryer. As such, it is clear that, in order for Gueydan Cooperative Dryer, Inc. to be liable to Mr. Guidry for workers' compensation benefits, Mr. Guidry, an independent contractor, must fall into the manual labor exception contained in La.R.S. 23:1021(6).

La.R.S. 23:1021(6) provides as follows:

"Independent contractor" means any person who renders service, other than manual labor, for a specified recompense for a specified result either as a unit or as a whole, under the control of his principal as to results of his work only, and not as to the means by which such result is accomplished, and are expressly excluded from the provisions of this Chapter unless a substantial part of the worktime of an independent contractor is spent in manual labor by him in carrying out the terms of

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Bluebook (online)
706 So. 2d 146, 1997 WL 758074, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/guidry-v-gueydan-co-op-dryer-inc-lactapp-1998.