Lay v. Vickers

836 So. 2d 525, 2002 La.App. 5 Cir. 667, 2002 La. App. LEXIS 4160, 2002 WL 31915844
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedDecember 30, 2002
DocketNo. 02-CA-667
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 836 So. 2d 525 (Lay v. Vickers) 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
Lay v. Vickers, 836 So. 2d 525, 2002 La.App. 5 Cir. 667, 2002 La. App. LEXIS 4160, 2002 WL 31915844 (La. Ct. App. 2002).

Opinion

| .MARION F. EDWARDS, Judge.

Appellant, Robert Lay Jr., (Lay) appeals a judgment of the district court awarding him damages in the amount of $8,298.56, as the result of damages suffered in an automobile accident. We affirm.

On July 7, 1999, Lay, with his minor son Robert, a passenger, was driving a 1976 Chevrolet on La. Highway 18 when a Chevrolet Suburban driven by defendant Raymond Vickers (Vickers) pulled into his path and struck his vehicle. Colonial Penn Insurance Company (Colonial Penn) was Vickers’ liability insurer. Lay filed suit in the 29th Judicial District Court. Prior to trial, the claims for young Robert were dismissed due to settlement.

Prior to trial, Colonial Penn stipulated that Vickers was at fault in the accident. Thus, the only issue at trial was the amount of damages. The trial court heard the testimony of Lay and medical depositions of the treating physicians were entered into evidence. At the conclusion of trial, the court took the matter under advisement, and ultimately rendered judgment in the amount of $8,298.56. The Lcourt found that the only injuries proven to have been caused by the accident were soft-tissue injuries treated by Dr. Patrick Stumpf. The court found that Lay did not prove his claim for lost wages, because he presented no evidence whatsoever to show that he was under physical restrictions from a doctor which would have prevented or restricted him for doing any type of work. The court further determined that [527]*527Lay did not prove that his shoulder pain was caused by the accident.

After trial, in November 2001 Colonial Penn tendered a check in the amount of $9,242.81, representing the amount of judgment plus interest that Colonial Penn had calculated as of the date of tender. A Satisfaction of Judgment accompanied the check. Counsel for Lay determined to take a devolutive appeal, and the check was not negotiated. Colonial Penn substituted an Acknowledgement of Receipt of Funds for the Satisfaction of Judgment.

The relationship between counsel for the parties became acrimonious. Counsel for Lay requested Colonial Penn’s calculation of interest, principal and costs, and eventually voided the draft tender. Lay appealed in December 2001, and several days later, Colonial Penn filed a multi-faceted motion, requesting the court to acknowledge the tender, to hold that legal interest on the principal amount ceased running as of the date of receipt of tender, and to order that Lay be “barred from attempting to take any further action regarding the principal amount awarded in this Court’s October 29, 2001 final judgment. ... while a replacement draft is being processed and forwarded to replace the tendered draft ...”

The court set the motion for hearing for January 28, 2002. Subsequent to Colonial Penn’s motion, on January 8, 2002 counsel for Lay sent a letter to Colonial Penn, stating simply that “We are going to be executing on the judgment.” On January 9, 2002, Colonial Penn filed a Motion for Emergency Restraining Order, requesting the court to bar Lay or his attorney from attempting |4to execute on the judgment. The trial court granted the order and stayed all matters pending the January 28th hearing. On January 10, pursuant to a Motion to Continue filed by Lay, the matters were reset for March 25, and the court continued the restraining order in effect. Lay filed a Motion to Dissolve Temporary Restraining Order and For Damages Including Attorney’s Fees and Sanctions. The court denied the motion to dissolve, and set the remaining matter for hearing on March 25. Also set for hearing that day was a motion to reduce the estimated appeal costs filed by Lay.

On March 13, counsel for both parties filed an Acknowledgement of Receipt of Funds into the record, in the amount of $9,948.69. The pleading stated the funds were paid as the value of the judgment, including interest and costs, “to avoid ex-ecutory process and to avoid continued accrual of legal interest. All parties ... reserve all rights of appeal. Plaintiff does not agree this is full payment, only payment on account. Interest and costs are due until the check is honored.”

On March 25, 2002, counsel for Lay was not present at the time scheduled for hearing, and the court continued with its regular docket. Later on that day, when Lay’s attorney still did not appear, the court dismissed the motion for sanctions and attorney fees as well as the motion to reduce appeal costs. Colonial Penn withdrew its motion to acknowledge tender of funds. Judgment on the various motions was rendered on April 5, 2002, and Lay moved for a new trial, which motion was granted. At the hearing, counsel for Lay agreed that the check ultimately accepted was the correct amount, and all parties agreed that the restraining order was rendered moot. The court denied the request for damages and attorney fees after refusing to let Lay cross-examine counsel for Colonial Penn. Lay has also appealed that judgment.

At trial, Lay testified that he retired from Texaco shortly before the accident, on June 2, 1999. He was physically sound prior to the accident, but immediately [528]*528| ¡¡afterwards he began to have pain from his neck to his shoulder. He saw his doctor, Dr. Patrick Stumpf, that same day. His pain was severe. He considered his shoulder pain and neck pain to be “the same thing.” His neck and shoulder injuries did not clear up, and after his insurance changed, he went to see Dr. Russo. That physician referred him to Dr. Grimm, an orthopedic surgeon, about 13 months after the accident. His shoulder pain was not as great as his neck pain, and hence he did not complain to the doctors about it earlier. Around March 2000, he was sawing some wood with a chain saw when his shoulder pain increased.

After the accident, he received a telephone call asking him to go back to work, but he was unable to return, due to his injuries. If it were not for his physical pain, he was capable of returning to work, and would have done so. The job would have required climbing towers in vessels, which were about three hundred feet high. None of his doctors told him that he should not take the job. Lay also had a dump truck, with which he could work several days a week, but did not miss any of that work because of the accident. That was a different type of labor than was offered at Texaco. Although he was in business, he did not get any jobs. In May 2000 he got a job with the parish as a laborer, but worked in pain.

The deposition of Robert Holland, Lay’s supervisor at Texaco, was admitted into evidence. He stated that Texaco had closed a portion of its plant, and that Lay accepted a retirement package. Shortly thereafter, Texaco determined to resume its operations and Holland was able to rehire some employees as contract workers. He called Lay, who related that he would like to return, but he had been in an accident and could not physically perform the job. Lay complained that his back was injured. The rehired employees would have received between $20-22 per hour. Holland told Lay to call him if things changed. The job consisted of climbing ladders on high towers, and opening and closing valves with a large wheel. Based on what Lay told him, Lay could not have performed the job.

16Roy Griffin, a fellow employee of Lay’s at Texaco, testified by deposition that Lay told him he would have liked to return to work, but could not because of his condition. When he was rehired, he was making $20.50 per hour. The job was supposed to last from three weeks to three months.

Dr.

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Bluebook (online)
836 So. 2d 525, 2002 La.App. 5 Cir. 667, 2002 La. App. LEXIS 4160, 2002 WL 31915844, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lay-v-vickers-lactapp-2002.