OUR LADY LAKE REG. MED. CENTER v. Helms

754 So. 2d 1049, 1999 WL 744114
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedSeptember 24, 1999
Docket98 CA 1931
StatusPublished
Cited by18 cases

This text of 754 So. 2d 1049 (OUR LADY LAKE REG. MED. CENTER v. Helms) 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
OUR LADY LAKE REG. MED. CENTER v. Helms, 754 So. 2d 1049, 1999 WL 744114 (La. Ct. App. 1999).

Opinion

754 So.2d 1049 (1999)

OUR LADY OF THE LAKE REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER
v.
Barbara HELMS.

No. 98 CA 1931.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, First Circuit.

September 24, 1999.
Writ Denied January 7, 2000.

*1050 Trenton J. Oubre, Baton Rouge, Counsel for Plaintiff/First Appellant, Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center.

Michelle Sorrells, Baton Rouge, Counsel for Defendant/Second Appellant, Barbara Helms.

Before: GONZALES, FITZSIMMONS and WEIMER, JJ.

GONZALES, J.

Barbara Helms injured her back while lifting a case of food in the course and scope of her employment at Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center (OLOL). Workers' compensation indemnity benefits, medical expenses and related expenses were paid by OLOL to or on behalf of Mrs. Helms. Mrs. Helms was paid $319.00 per week in indemnity benefits from the date of the incident, December 13, 1993, until February of 1997, when OLOL terminated indemnity benefits. OLOL reinstated Ms. Helms' indemnity benefits on May 20, 1997, including past due benefits, and continued to pay benefits to Ms. Helms through August 4, 1997. Medical expenses were paid by OLOL to or on behalf of Mrs. Helms from the date of the accident through August 27, 1997.

The total amount of indemnity benefits paid by OLOL to Ms. Helms was $63,314.90; the total amount of medical benefits paid by OLOL to or on behalf of Ms. Helms was $15,499.90; the total amount of travel reimbursement and related expenses paid by OLOL to Ms. Helms was $10,003.20; and the total amount of vocational rehabilitation expenses paid by OLOL to or on behalf of Ms. Helms was $7,267.20, amounting to a total of $96,085.20 in benefits paid to Ms. Helms.

On March 13, 1997, OLOL filed a petition to terminate Ms. Helms' workers' compensation benefits and/or for a reduction of her workers' compensation benefits because of her failure to cooperate with vocational rehabilitation. OLOL alleged that in August of 1995, Dr. Thomas Perone, Ms. Helms' treating physician, felt that she had reached maximum medical improvement and was capable of working in a limited sedentary type of occupation. OLOL alleged that on May 14, 1996, Dr. Perone felt that Ms. Helms could work in a sedentary level of activity and could work *1051 up to a light level of activity. OLOL alleged jobs had been located for Ms. Helms, which had been approved by Dr. Perone, which would pay her 90% of her pre-injury wage, and that Ms. Helms was no longer temporarily totally disabled and no longer entitled to earn supplemental earnings benefits as she was capable of earning 90% of her pre-injury wages. Ms. Helms answered the petition and generally denied OLOL's allegations. She later filed an answer and reconventional demand, asking that OLOL's petition be dismissed, and asking that OLOL be assessed with penalties and attorney fees for temporarily terminating her benefits, and asking for continuing medical and indemnity benefits. The case went to trial before the workers' compensation judge.

After trial on the merits, the workers' compensation judge ruled in favor of OLOL, finding that Ms. Helms had committed fraud in order to obtain workers' compensation. The workers' compensation judge further found that OLOL would be entitled to collect reimbursement, but that under Sumrall v. Luhr Brothers, 95-0779 (La.App. 1 Cir. 12/15/95), 665 So.2d 796, writ denied, 96-0187 (La.3/15/96), 669 So.2d 425, the workers' compensation court did not have jurisdiction to award reimbursement to OLOL. The workers' compensation judge further found that Ms. Helms had forfeited any right to benefits and rejected Ms. Helms' demands at her cost.

OLOL appealed and makes the following assignments of error:

A. Despite correctly finding that workers' compensation fraud had been committed by Barbara Helms pursuant to La. R.S. 23:1208, the workers' compensation judge was clearly wrong and manifestly erroneous in failing to award restitution of benefits to Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center pursuant to La. R.S. 23:1208(D), as amended by 1997 Acts. No. 1108.
B. The workers' compensation judge was clearly wrong and manifestly erroneous in allowing Barbara Helms to make material and contradictory changes to her deposition testimony at the trial of this matter.

Ms. Helms answered the appeal and makes the following assignments of error:

1. The worker's compensation judge was manifestly erroneous in his conclusion that Barbara Helms violated RS 23:1208 and forfeited her right to worker's compensation.
2. The worker's compensation judge was manifestly erroneous in allowing a 10 minute surveillance videotape into evidence when six original tapes existed with several hours of video from approximately 40 hours of surveillance.
3. The worker's compensation judge manifestly erred in his failure to find OLOL arbitrary and capricious when it terminated Barbara Helms' TTD benefits in February 1997 and failed to pay SEB when no job was located for Mrs. Helms which paid 90% of her average weekly wage.
4. The worker's compensation judge manifestly erred in his failure to find that Barbara Helms was not entitled to continuing SEB after benefits were terminated in August 1997 when Dr. Perone testified that Mrs. Helms could not return to work at her pre-injury job and no jobs were proved available to Mrs. Helms which paid 90% of her average weekly wage.

THE STANDARD OF REVIEW

It is well settled that a court of appeal may not set aside a trial court's or a jury's finding of fact in the absence of "manifest error" or unless it is "clearly wrong," and where there is a conflict in the testimony, reasonable evaluations of credibility and reasonable inferences of fact should not be disturbed upon review, even though the appellate court may feel that its own evaluations and inferences are as reasonable. Rosell v. ESCO, 549 So.2d 840, 844 (La. 1989).

*1052 The appellate review of fact is not completed by reading only so much of the record as will reveal a reasonable factual basis for the finding in the trial court, but if the trial court or jury findings are reasonable in light of the record reviewed in its entirety, the court of appeal may not reverse even though convinced that had it been sitting as the trier of fact, it would have weighed the evidence differently. Where there are two permissible views of the evidence, the factfinder's choice between them cannot be manifestly erroneous or clearly wrong. Rosell, 549 So.2d at 844.

OLOL'S ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NO. 1

OLOL argues that the workers' compensation judge erred in not awarding restitution under La. R.S. 23:1208(D). The workers' compensation judge relied upon Sumrall, 665 So.2d 796, in finding the workers' compensation court did not have jurisdiction to award restitution to OLOL. He stated in oral reasons for judgment:

Insofar as fraud is concerned, I think she is guilty of fraud and that they would be entitled to collect but that under Sumrall, S-u-m-r-a-l-l, versus Lu[hr] Brothers, 665 So.2nd. 796, the supreme court has held that—it wasn't a supreme court. It was [an appellate] court. The writs were refused, that we don't have jurisdiction, that the jurisdiction is with the district court.

Subsequent to the Sumrall case, the legislature amended La. R .S. 23:1208 by Acts 1997, No. 1108 § 1, to provide that the workers' compensation judge may order restitution of benefits where fraud has been found.

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754 So. 2d 1049, 1999 WL 744114, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/our-lady-lake-reg-med-center-v-helms-lactapp-1999.