Hutchinson v. Commercial Union Insurance Co. of New York

278 So. 2d 910, 1973 La. App. LEXIS 6141
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJune 5, 1973
DocketNo. 5278
StatusPublished

This text of 278 So. 2d 910 (Hutchinson v. Commercial Union Insurance Co. of New York) 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
Hutchinson v. Commercial Union Insurance Co. of New York, 278 So. 2d 910, 1973 La. App. LEXIS 6141 (La. Ct. App. 1973).

Opinion

STOULIG, Judge.

This appeal is from a judgment of total and permanent disability in a workmen’s compensation suit. Appellants, Dixieland Tours, Inc., and its insurer, the Commercial Union Ins. Co. of New York, challenge the trial court’s award of benefits in the sum of $35 per week for a period not to exceed 400 weeks. Harry S. Hutchinson, the plaintiff-appellee, has answered the appeal renewing his denied request for statutory penalties and attorney’s fees.

The pertinent facts are that Hutchinson, a sightseeing guide, suffered a heart attack (myocardial infarction) when he ran up the steps at the State Capital in Baton Rouge while conducting a tour for Dixieland Tours, Inc. From the day following the attack, plaintiff was totally immobilized for a period of five months. His treating physician gradually allowed Hutchinson to participate in progressively [911]*911increased activities to the point of now near normality. However, the plaintiff contends he is totally disabled from returning to his former occupation because of recurring attacks of angina pectoris and shortness of breath.

At the trial defendants disputed the occurrence of the attack within the course and scope of Hutchinson’s part-time employment for Dixieland Tours, questioning whether the plaintiff had the attack while on the job and whether he was about the work of Dixieland Tours or on an independent business trip of his own at the time it occurred. While still doubting the validity of plaintiff’s claim, on appeal defendants admit their inability to demonstrate manifest error in the trial court’s evaluation of the testimony.

Considering the evidence adduced by deposition and trial testimony, we agree with appellants that there was a legitimate factual dispute as to whether the plaintiff’s heart attack was job-related and sustained while in the employ of Dixieland Tours. Therefore the defendant insurance company was justified in resisting Mr. Hutchinson’s compensation demand and, accordingly, we find no error in the trial court’s rejection of plaintiff’s request for penalties and attorney’s fees.

The questions forming the thrust of this appeal were accurately framed by counsel for appellant as follows: “Does the proof adduced before the trial judge establish a present disability in the plaintiff to do the same work he was doing at the time of his accident [heart attack], and, if so, is this present disability the result of that incident?”

The controlling jurisprudence on these issues was expressed in the rehearing opinion of the Supreme Court in the case of Bertrand v. Coal Operators Casualty Company, 253 La. 1115, 221 So.2d 816 (1969). There the Supreme Court was faced with a medically established clear case of disability, described on page 827 as follows:

* * * What has happened to the plaintiff, according to all of the medical testimony, is that his total physical being and capacity have so changed that because of the symptoms exhibited (tachycardia or angina pectoris) and the preexisting disease (defective atrioventricular node or coronary sclerosis) he cannot return to work of a character similar to that which he had successfully done without pain, complaint, or disability for 16 years before the first episode and for nine months after it. All would agree that it is likely that the symptoms (angina pectoris or tachycardia) will recur, producing in themselves pain, blackouts, and collapses. Under both diagnoses a ‘full blown coronary’ or fatal occlusion is likely to result from the extreme exertion required by his work.”

Then, on the above factual basis, the Supreme Court stated what is now apparently the rule for determining disability:

“In a case such as the present one, where there is proof of an accident and of a following disability without any intervening cause, it is presumed that the accident caused the disability. The criterion for causal connection between the accident and the disability is: Has the accident changed the plaintiff’s condition so as to render him disabled and unfit for his former employment?” 221 So. 2d at 827.

In attempting to apply the above rule, we observe the factual distinction that the instant matter involves less conclusive medical testimony in that there is no clear showing of a total physical disability or that, as in Bertrand, “a ‘full blown coronary’ or fatal occlusion is likely to result from the extreme exertion required by his [plaintiff’s] work.”

Clarifying the above-quoted guideline, the Supreme Court in Bertrand elaborated on its rule on page 828 as follows:

“ * * * The legal criterion in compensation cases involving heart disease [912]*912should be whether the accident caused a change in the employee’s physical condition which is disabling, and not whether the accident changed the diseased organ of the employee. The residual condition from an accidental injury which substantially increases the possibility of recurrence of a disabling or death-dealing episode is legally disabling and is compensa-ble under our Workmen’s Compensation law.”

In the record before us there is no medical testimony of substantially increased likelihood of a “recurrence of a disabling or death-dealing episode.”

Dr. Lloyd Lo Cascio, a general practitioner who was plaintiff’s treating physician, first saw him the day after the heart attack on March 28, 1968. He treated Mr. Hutchinson until November 25, 1969. From his letter describing plaintiff’s condition to the defendants’ counsel, Dr. Lo Cascio read into the record the following:

“ * * * The last electrocardiogram was taken on November 12th, 1969 was static, showing evidence of the old posterior infarction. Mr. Hutchinson was seen last on November 25th, 1969 with no cardial complaints, his prognosis was good but has been advised not to go back to work to heavy strenuous types of work.”

Dr. Lo Cascio neither specifically stated plaintiff was disabled nor defined his phrase “heavy strenuous types of work.” However, in reference to the doctor’s statement that the plaintiff was last seen on November 25, 1969, with “no cardial complaints,” this testimony was elicited:

“Q So I think we can infer as of the time of your comments in your letter he had no myocardial complaints meaning he was not having these things that Mr. Reese detailed to you, shortness of breath and pain in the chest, isn’t that correct?
A Yes.
Q Would you look back through your notes and see when was the last time you got such a complaint ?
A In May of 1969 [more than two years prior to trial]. * * * ”

Dr. Ted Bloch, a specialist in internal medicine, examined Mr. Hutchinson for the defendants on October 8, 1971, shortly before trial. His examination revealed that the plaintiff’s blood pressure and heart size were within normal limits. When asked if he reached any conclusions based upon the patient’s history and his examination, Dr. Bloch testified as follows:

“A * * * j (jjd n0f feej Mr. Hutchinson at this time was disabled from performing work as a driver of a tour limousine. Perhaps I should elaborate on this. It is true he has to be told by his physi- .

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Related

Bertrand v. Coal Operators Casualty Company
221 So. 2d 816 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1969)
Ventress v. Danel-Ryder, Inc.
225 So. 2d 765 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1969)
Lee v. Royal Indemnity Company
149 So. 2d 606 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1963)
Brewer v. Travelers Insurance Co.
244 So. 2d 909 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1971)
Sallinger v. Sachse Electric Co.
255 So. 2d 159 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1971)

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Bluebook (online)
278 So. 2d 910, 1973 La. App. LEXIS 6141, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hutchinson-v-commercial-union-insurance-co-of-new-york-lactapp-1973.