Odom v. Claiborne Elec. Co-Op., Inc.

623 So. 2d 217, 1993 WL 310834
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedAugust 18, 1993
Docket24909-CA
StatusPublished
Cited by22 cases

This text of 623 So. 2d 217 (Odom v. Claiborne Elec. Co-Op., 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
Odom v. Claiborne Elec. Co-Op., Inc., 623 So. 2d 217, 1993 WL 310834 (La. Ct. App. 1993).

Opinion

623 So.2d 217 (1993)

Roy ODOM and Shirley Odom, Plaintiffs-Appellants,
v.
CLAIBORNE ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE, INC., et al., Defendants-Appellees.

No. 24909-CA.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Second Circuit.

August 18, 1993.

*219 Mayer, Smith & Roberts by Alex S. Lyons, Shreveport, for plaintiffs-appellants, Roy and Shirley Odom.

Lunn, Irion, Johnson, Salley & Carlisle by Brian D. Smith, Shreveport, for defendant-appellee, Claiborne Elec. Co-op, Inc.

Before SEXTON, HIGHTOWER and WILLIAMS, JJ.

SEXTON, Judge.

Plaintiffs, Roy & Shirley Odom, appeal a jury's award of damages for injuries which Mrs. Odom received in an automobile accident caused by the defendants, M.C. Williams and Claiborne Electric Cooperative, Inc. We amend the judgment to include *220 damages for loss of consortium and affirm, as amended.

FACTS

On December 6, 1987, M.C. Williams was called into work at noon by his employer, Claiborne Electric Cooperative, Inc. Significant thunderstorms had knocked out power in many areas that day and Mr. Williams was sent into the field in his Claiborne Electric pickup truck to locate any downed power lines. Mr. Williams used a spotlight in his truck to look at the power lines as he drove down different roadways.

It was still raining around 5:00 p.m. when Mr. Williams approached a 90-degree curve on Highway 179 South. Mr. Williams was traveling at 25 miles per hour when he entered this curve and applied his brakes. His truck began to skid, and his vehicle slid to the other side of the road where it collided with a 1989 Ford Crown Victoria, which was driven by Roy Odom. Mr. Odom had noticed that the truck was on the wrong side of the road and had attempted to pull his vehicle onto the shoulder of the road to avoid the accident. Roy's wife, Shirley Odom, was a passenger in the Ford. She was wearing her seat belt when the accident occurred. However, she felt immediate pain in her neck and her left arm and her fingers started going numb after the accident. An ambulance brought Mrs. Odom to the North Claiborne Hospital in Haynesville, where she was treated by Dr. Samuel Abshire for acute cervical myoligamentous strain with possible neuropathy. After three days, Mrs. Odom was discharged from the hospital, although she was still experiencing neck pain.

Following the accident, Mrs. Odom saw Dr. Abshire and his partner, Dr. Edward Butler, for several checkups. After a visit on January 15, 1988, Dr. Abshire referred Mrs. Odom to Dr. Robert Schwendimann, a neurologist, for evaluation. Nerve conduction studies performed by Dr. Schwendimann on February 15, 1988, were essentially normal except for a slight delay through the thoracic outlet. The electromyogram showed minimal changes in muscles that are supplied by the C5-C6 nerve roots. Mrs. Odom was placed on a program of physical therapy. The physical therapy program did not bring any benefit to Mrs. Odom, and the pain in her neck increased. Mrs. Odom continued to see Drs. Abshire, Butler, and Schwendimann. Dr. Abshire changed her pain medication to Flexiril, and on July 26, 1988, Mrs. Odom reported that the new medication was very successful in controlling her neck pain and muscle spasms. Dr. Abshire reported that the patient's range of motion through the cervical spine was markedly improved with only minimal subjective pain. In October of 1988, Mrs. Odom again went to see Dr. Schwendimann because of tingling sensations in her left hand. Dr. Schwendimann recommended an MRI, which was performed on November 4, 1988. Dr. Schwendimann felt that the MRI showed a soft disc herniation at the C7-T1 level and some degenerative changes in the C5-C6 level. Mrs. Odom was then referred to a neurosurgeon, Dr. George Martinez.

Dr. Martinez was of the opinion that the MRI showed that Mrs. Odom had a herniated disc at the C5-C6 level. On February 21, 1989, Dr. Martinez performed an operation on Mrs. Odom in which he removed the cervical disc at C5-C6 and fused that level. Mrs. Odom's condition improved and X-rays showed an excellent fusion. She was released from Dr. Martinez's care in August of 1989 with a 14 percent permanent disability rating. On October 27, 1989, Mrs. Odom returned to Dr. Martinez complaining of headaches, discomfort in the cervical region and mild intermittent pain in her right arm. Dr. Martinez referred Mrs. Odom back to Dr. Schwendimann.

When Dr. Schwendimann began treating Mrs. Odom again in January 1990, she was again complaining of headaches, pain in the neck, and radiating pain down the left arm into the fingers. She told Dr. Schwendimann that after the surgery she had improved, but after she had been released to return to normal work activities, the same symptoms reappeared. Dr. Schwendimann also noticed that Mrs. Odom was now suffering from hoarseness and her voice was slightly lower in pitch. Concerned about the change in her voice, Dr. Schwendimann referred Mrs. Odom to Dr. Roy Fleniken, an otolaryngologist. Dr. Fleniken discovered edema on *221 Mrs. Odom's right true vocal chord and a polyp on her left true vocal chord. Dr. Fleniken surgically removed the polyp from Mrs. Odom's vocal chord and returned her to Dr. Schwendimann's care. Dr. Schwendimann continued to treat Mrs. Odom up through the date of trial. During that time, she consistently complained of headaches, neck pain, and radiating pain down the left arm into the fingers.

On September 12, 1988, Roy and Shirley Odom filed suit naming M.C. Williams, Claiborne Electric Cooperative, Inc., and Federated Royal Electric Insurance Corporation as defendants. The defendants answered the petition alleging comparative negligence on the part of plaintiffs. The defendants also contended a defective roadway was the cause of the accident, thereby making the Claiborne Parish Police Jury a party to the suit. On September 12, 1991, after a trial on the merits, the jury found that M.C. Williams was 100 percent at fault in causing the accident. The following damages were awarded:

1) Medical expenses, past and future....................................$18,381.03
2) Physical injury, pain, suffering, and mental anguish, past and future,
    and permanent disability.............................................18,500.00
3) Past lost earnings and future lost earning capacity................... 7,500.00
4) Value of housekeeping services, past and future.......................   810.25
5) Property damage to automobile and cost of rental unit................. 1,852.01
6) Loss of consortium to Roy Odom........................................    -0-

A final judgment was signed on December 18, 1991. Plaintiffs filed a motion for a judgment notwithstanding the verdict or in the alternative, a motion for new trial. These motions were denied by the trial court on May 5, 1992. Plaintiffs now appeal asserting that all of the jury's awards for damages, except for its award for property damage to the automobile, were abusively low.

GENERAL DAMAGES

Plaintiffs contend the jury's award for general damages was inadequate and an abuse of its discretion. Plaintiffs contend that all the medical testimony presented at trial relates Mrs. Odom's injuries to the December 6, 1987, automobile accident. Plaintiffs contend this automobile accident caused Shirley Odom to suffer two herniated discs, at the C5-C6 level and at the C7-T1 level. The C5-C6 herniated disc required surgical removal and fusion. Plaintiffs assert the accident caused an immediate onset of headaches, neck pain, and radiating pain down the left arm, which have continued practically unabated to this date. Plaintiffs contend that Mrs.

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Bluebook (online)
623 So. 2d 217, 1993 WL 310834, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/odom-v-claiborne-elec-co-op-inc-lactapp-1993.