Maddox v. Anderson Trucking Services

801 So. 2d 593, 1 La.App. 3 Cir. 00953, 2001 La. App. LEXIS 2975, 2001 WL 1580185
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedDecember 12, 2001
DocketNo. 01 00953-WCA
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 801 So. 2d 593 (Maddox v. Anderson Trucking Services) 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
Maddox v. Anderson Trucking Services, 801 So. 2d 593, 1 La.App. 3 Cir. 00953, 2001 La. App. LEXIS 2975, 2001 WL 1580185 (La. Ct. App. 2001).

Opinion

JjPETERS, J.

John Maddox, Jr., appeals a judgment rendered by Charlotte L. Bushnell, workers’ compensation judge for District 3,1 granting an exception of lack of subject matter jurisdiction and dismissing his workers’ compensation claim against his employer, Anderson Trucking Services (Anderson Trucking). For the following reasons, we reverse that judgment and remand for further proceedings.

On September 18, 2000, Maddox filed a claim for compensation benefits against his employer, Anderson Trucking, a Minnesota corporation,2 claiming that he was in[594]*594jured in a work accident which occurred in Rochester, New York, on August 3, 2000. Anderson Trucking responded to the claim by filing, among other things, a declinatory exception of lack of subject matter jurisdiction. In this exception, Anderson Trucking asserted that it had hired Maddox in Gary, Indiana, and, therefore, the appropriate forum for his claim was the State of Indiana. After a hearing, the workers’ compensation judge granted this exception and dismissed Maddox’s claim, and Maddox has appealed.

Although Anderson Trucking is a Minnesota corporation, it has offices in Gary, Indiana. It advertises for truck drivers in various trucking industry booklets available to cross-country truck drivers in truck stops, including locations in Louisiana. Maddox, a truck driver with approximately twenty years of experience, testified at the hearing on the exception that he saw an Anderson Trucking advertisement in an industry booklet which he obtained from a Louisiana truck stop in late May 2000. He ^responded to the advertisement, and Anderson Trucking hired him in June 2000.

According to Maddox, he was offered the position by telephone and accepted it from his Merryville, Louisiana home. Only after accepting the position did he travel to Anderson Trucking’s Gary, Indiana office to “get lined out on it.” Maddox testified that he made it clear to the representative of the company in the telephone conversation when he accepted the position that he would not go to the Gary, Indiana office unless they guaranteed him a job in advance of the trip. According to Maddox, the representative informed him that he was hired if he could pass the physical.

Maddox testified that he then traveled to Gary, Indiana, at Anderson Trucking’s expense and, once there, completed a company orientation program as well as a physical examination. He then continued to St. Cloud, Minnesota, where he entered into a lease-purchase agreement with the company and obtained possession of a truck which was the subject of the agreement. Maddox testified that he delivered his first load for Anderson Trucking to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and that, in the next six weeks before his accident, he hauled three or four additional loads.

Maddox’s testimony was the only testimony offered at the trial of the exception. In opposition to Maddox’s testimony, Anderson Trucking offered the affidavit of Kurt Stunek, a company claims representative, who stated the following:

1. That he is the Claims Representative for ATS Specialized Inc. and has personal knowledge of the following facts;
2. John Maddox (employee) contacted the recruiting department of ATS Specialized Inc. (employer) after seeing an advertisement in “Trucking 2000” magazine;
3. On our [sic] about May 22, 2000 Employee called and inquired about employment; therefore, an application was sent to him from the corporate office in St. Cloud, Minnesota, to employers [sic] home in Marksville, Louisiana;
| ⅞4. After review in St. Cloud, Minnesota, the application was then forwarded to Gary, Indiana and the [595]*595Employee was brought to Gary, Indiana for training and orientation but no offer of employment was made at the time.
5. Upon completion of the training and orientation in Gary, Indiana, and after passing a drug test, which was conducted in Indiana, employee was hired in Gary, Indiana;
6. No contract of hire was made in the State of Louisiana;
7. After being hired, Employee was issued a tractor bearing Minnesota tags PRK-153 and then initiated employment through the state of Indiana;
8. Employer is a Minnesota Corporation (as evidence [sic] by the true and accurate copy of the certificate of good standing, attached here to as Exhibit A) and has no offices in the state of Louisiana;
9. All training of drivers takes place in Indiana and there was no training of Employee in the state of Louisiana;
10. Attached to this affidavit is a true and accurate copy of the Employee’s agreement (attached here as Exhibit B) that Workers’ Compensation coverage would be provided under the laws of Indiana;
11. Employee’s employment was not principally located in the state of Louisiana;
12. The alleged injury of August 3, 2000, occurred in Rochester, New York;
13. Communication between the Employee and the fleet manager, was by Qualcomm, while the employee was making long hauls and while the fleet manager was located in Minnesota;
14. Without authorization, Employee took the tractor to Louisiana and reported on or about August 7, 2000 that he was injured on or about August 3, 2000 in Rochester, New York;
15. Upon receipt of the reported injury, employer filed the attached first injury report (attached here as Exhibit C) with the Indiana Office of Workers’ Compensation;
16. That all of the foregoing allegations are true and correct to the best of his knowledge and belief.

RMaddox’s counsel timely objected to the admission of this affidavit.

Subject matter jurisdiction “is the legal power and authority of a court to hear and determine a particular class of actions or proceedings, based upon the object of the demand, the amount in dispute, or the value of the right asserted.” La.Code Civ.P. art. 2. It cannot be conferred on a court by consent of the parties, and any judgment rendered by a court without subject matter jurisdiction is void. La.Code Civ.P. art. 3. Maddox relies on La.R.S. 23:1035.1(l)(b) in support of his position that Louisiana has subject matter jurisdiction to consider his workers’ compensation claim. That statute provides for coverage for a worker injured in another state if, at the time of his injury, “he [was] working under a contract of hire made in this state.” Id. In his sole assignment of error, Maddox contends that the workers’ compensation judge erred in concluding that his contract of hire was not made in Louisiana.

In reviewing the evidence presented, we conclude that the workers’ compensation judge erred in admitting the Stunek affidavit. The affidavit is hearsay. See La.Code Evid. art. 801(C). While La.R.S. 23:1317 provides a relaxed evidentiary standard in workers’ compensation pro[596]*596ceedings, the workers’ compensation judge’s factual findings must still be based on competent evidence. Chaisson v. Cajun Bag & Supply Co., 97-1225 (La.3/4/98), 708 So.2d 375. In relation to the use of hearsay evidence in workers’ compensation cases, the supreme court in Chaisson stated the following:

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Maddox v. Anderson Trucking Services
834 So. 2d 1226 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2002)

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Bluebook (online)
801 So. 2d 593, 1 La.App. 3 Cir. 00953, 2001 La. App. LEXIS 2975, 2001 WL 1580185, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/maddox-v-anderson-trucking-services-lactapp-2001.