LaFleur v. Swallow's Rice Mills

532 So. 2d 255, 1988 La. App. LEXIS 1990, 1988 WL 103158
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedOctober 5, 1988
Docket87-666
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 532 So. 2d 255 (LaFleur v. Swallow's Rice Mills) 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
LaFleur v. Swallow's Rice Mills, 532 So. 2d 255, 1988 La. App. LEXIS 1990, 1988 WL 103158 (La. Ct. App. 1988).

Opinion

532 So.2d 255 (1988)

Walter LaFLEUR, Jr. Plaintiff-Appellant,
v.
SWALLOW'S RICE MILLS Defendant-Appellee.

No. 87-666.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Third Circuit.

October 5, 1988.

*256 Gary J. Ortego, Ville Platte, for plaintiff-appellant.

Guiglielmo & Lopez, H. Douglas Hunter, J. Opelousas, J. Jake Fontenot, Momou, for defendant-appellee.

Before DOMENGEAUX, KNOLL and KING, JJ.

DOMENGEAUX, Judge.

The plaintiff-appellant, Walter Lafleur, Jr., appeals the judgment of the District Court denying him worker's compensation benefits. He alleges four errors by the Trial Court:

(1) In finding that plaintiff-appellant was not employed at the time of his accident by defendant-appellee, Swallow's Rice Mills.

(2) In finding that defendant-appellee proved that the plaintiff-appellant intentionally and willfully intended to injure himself or another.

(3) In finding that defendant-appellee proved that plaintiff-appellant was intoxicated at the time of his injury.

(4) In finding that plaintiff-appellant was not entitled to penalties and attorney's fees based on defendant-appellee's arbitrary and capricious refusal to pay compensation benefits.

FACTS

On October 30, 1984, the plaintiff, Walter Lafleur, Jr., a twenty-eight year old male employee of defendant, Swallow's Rice Mills, was injured while on the rice mill premises. The work at the mill is seasonal, and the two main characters in this drama, the plaintiff, and M.L. Droddy, a man in his mid-fifties, had just recently been hired by the mill's owner, Wilfred Soileau. At the trial, there was conflicting testimony of the events leading to the plaintiff's injury. What is certain is that the plaintiff was at the mill sometime between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. on October 30, 1984, and was hit on the head with a rice shovel by Droddy and thereby rendered unconscious. After receiving medical treatment the plaintiff filed a claim to receive worker's compensation benefits.

The day before the accident, the plaintiff had received his first paycheck and proceeded to spend the evening drinking with friends at a local bar until 3 a.m. The plaintiff claimed that he reported to work at 6 a.m., apparently quite the worse for wear, as he was in his bare feet and his shirt was unbuttoned. Despite his "hung over" condition, the plaintiff claimed that the foreman instructed him to stay at work and drink coffee, of which the plaintiff allegedly drank several cups. It was during the course of one of these trips to obtain coffee, that the plaintiff claimed he was hit on the head, without provocation, by Droddy. The plaintiff admitted speaking to Droddy but claimed that he was only "shooting the bull" and did not provoke Droddy to strike him. When asked what he said to Droddy, the plaintiff could not remember saying anything in particular. He admitted that his usual remarks to Droddy included profanity and derogatory statements about Droddy's family and in particular such statements as "you old creep."

The testimony of Wilfred Soileau, the mill's owner, differed significantly from that of the plaintiff. Soileau testified that around 7:15 a.m. he heard someone talking in the office next to his. Upon entering the next room, Soileau found the plaintiff in *257 the aforementioned disheveled condition, talking on Soileau's personal business telephone. Soileau asked Lafleur if he had just arrived at work and Lafleur said yes. When asked what he was doing, Lafleur stated that he was "talking to some dudes". Soileau testified that he was close enough to Lafleur to smell alcohol on his breath. Believing that Lafleur was intoxicated, Soileau ordered him to put the phone down and leave the premises. Lafleur left the office and proceeded to the warehouse. Soileau then returned to his office to talk to a trucker who had just arrived. Five minutes later, Soileau attempted to locate his foreman to inform him that Lafleur was drunk and to instruct him to prohibit Lafleur from loitering on the business premises. Before Soileau could do so, Droddy had already struck Lafleur. Lafleur denied being told to leave the premises or even encountering Soileau, although he vaguely remembered using the phone.

There were no witnesses to the encounter between Droddy and Lafleur. Droddy claimed that from the time he started working at the mill two weeks earlier, Lafleur had been making derogatory remarks about Droddy's family. Although Lafleur admitted to some derogatory statements to Droddy, Lafleur denied that he and Droddy did not get along well. According to Droddy, Lafleur's remarks included allegations of affairs between Lafleur and Droddy's wife and daughter.

Droddy stated that Lafleur was not at work at 6 a.m. when everyone else arrived. After Lafleur arrived late, he approached Droddy who was working by a rice conveyor belt in the warehouse. Interspersed with the derogatory remarks of the previous two weeks about Droddy's family, Lafleur had let it be known that he had trained extensively in karate while in the service. Droddy stated that Lafleur approached him from behind. Since he was busy working, Droddy did not notice Lafleur until Lafleur told him he was going to use karate on him. Droddy ignored the plaintiff's threat. At that point, the machine jammed. While the work ceased the plaintiff again threatened to use karate on Droddy. At this point, Droddy warned Lafleur that if he took another step forward towards him he was going to "brain" him with the rice shovel he was holding. Lafleur paused, then took a step toward Droddy. Droddy then hit Lafleur on the head.

In its reasons for judgment the Trial Court found: (1) The injuries sustained by Lafleur did not arise out of, and were not in the course of his employment; (2) Lafleur was told to leave the premises due to his intoxicated condition, which he did not do; (3) Droddy was in genuine fear of his life and limb when he struck the plaintiff; (4) the defenses in La.R.S. 23:1081 were proven by the defendant; and (5) the plaintiff's claim for penalties and attorney's fees was without merit since the claim for worker's compensation was denied by the Trial Court, and there was probable cause for refusing payment.

On appeal, the plaintiff has assigned the aforementioned assignments of error. The first two assignments will be combined into one discussion for the reasons set forth below.

INJURY ARISING OUT OF AND IN THE COURSE OF EMPLOYMENT

The plaintiff initially argues that the Trial Court erred in holding that he was not employed at the time of this accident because he was told by Soileau to leave. However, the Trial Court did not find Lafleur was not employed at the time of the accident. The Court found that the injuries sustained did not arise out of or in the course of Lafleur's employment. The plaintiff has erroneously framed the issue, equating "arising out of and in the course of" with being employed. He has assumed that he adequately carried his burden of proving that his injury arose out of and in the course of his employment and that the burden had shifted to the defendant to prove the affirmative defenses of La.R.S. 23:1081. Our review of this issue will consider whether or not the plaintiff did, in fact, carry this initial burden of proof.

For an employee to receive worker's compensation benefits, the employee must *258 establish that he received a personal injury by an accident arising out of and in the course of his employment. La.R.S. 23:1031; Simpson v. S.S. Kresge Co., 389 So.2d 65 (La.1980). In Raybol v. Louisiana State University, 520 So.2d 724 (La.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Ardoin v. Cleco Power, LLC
33 So. 3d 420 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2010)
Jerome C. Ardoin, Jr. v. Cleco Power, LLC
Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2010
Tarver v. Energy Drilling Co.
645 So. 2d 796 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1994)
Duncan ex rel. Hahn v. South Central Bell Telephone Co.
608 So. 2d 649 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1992)
Yates v. Naylor Indus. Services, Inc.
569 So. 2d 616 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1990)
Duncan v. South Cent. Bell Telephone
554 So. 2d 214 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1989)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
532 So. 2d 255, 1988 La. App. LEXIS 1990, 1988 WL 103158, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lafleur-v-swallows-rice-mills-lactapp-1988.