Oxley v. Sattler

710 So. 2d 261, 1998 WL 63594
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedFebruary 18, 1998
Docket97-1299
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 710 So. 2d 261 (Oxley v. Sattler) 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
Oxley v. Sattler, 710 So. 2d 261, 1998 WL 63594 (La. Ct. App. 1998).

Opinion

710 So.2d 261 (1998)

Kenneth OXLEY, Plaintiff-Appellant,
v.
Stanley SATTLER, et al., Defendants-Appellees.

No. 97-1299.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Third Circuit.

February 18, 1998.
Rehearing Denied June 9, 1998.

*263 William Preston Crews, Jr., Natchitoches, for Kenneth D. Oxley.

Kathryn Fowler Van Hoof, for Stanley Sattler, et al.

Before DECUIR, SAUNDERS and COOKS, JJ.

COOKS, Judge.

Plaintiff sought workers' compensation benefits, claiming he became disabled from a heart condition known as ventricular tachycardia, precipitated by his employment. The hearing officer granted plaintiff temporary total disability benefits, finding his illness was work-related. Defendant appeals that this decision was manifestly erroneous. Plaintiff also appeals, asserting the tribunal erred in deciding to grant benefits for six months maximum, and further by failing to award him statutory penalties and attorney's fees. Finding the hearing officer manifestly erred by failing to specify the amount of medical benefits due plaintiff, we partially reverse and remand the matter for determination of that issue only. In all other regards, the judgment is affirmed.

FACTS

Kenneth Oxley worked as a log cutter for over twenty years. Beginning in January 1994, he was employed by Colston & Sattler log cutting services. At Colston & Sattler, his work hours extended from daylight to dark, five or six days each week. During these hours, he was required to cut trees and trim limbs to help the logging crew produce 12 to 14 loads of cut wood per day. Oxley testified his job required continuous walking and he took only three 30 minute breaks each day.

In 1992, Oxley suffered a heart attack and he has since been diagnosed with having coronary artery disease. The record shows Oxley frequently complained of chest pain and shortness of breath. Beginning in late 1994, Oxley experienced dizziness, weakness and fainting episodes two to three times each month.

On the morning of November 8, 1995, Oxley "blacked out" after cutting into a tree, with a power saw, to release a shearer used to cut smaller trees. This task was part of Oxley's regular duties. He was required to release shearers in this manner twelve to fifteen times a day. Oxley was subsequently diagnosed as having ventricular tachycardia, a condition which causes his heart to accelerate and beat in the bottom ventricle instead of the top ventricle.

Oxley has since been unable to work. The testifying medical expert stated he believed "the added exertion and stress put on by his very vigorous labor was the approximate cause of his" disabling injury. On May 14, 1997, the workers' compensation hearing officer granted Oxley temporary total disability benefits in the amount of three hundred and thirty dollars per week for a period of six (6) months, plus legal interest from each date due until paid. Further, defendants were ordered to pay medical benefits "which are reasonable and necessary and work-related." However, the hearing officer did not award plaintiff statutory penalties and attorney's fees. No benefits have been paid to date.

ASSIGNMENTS OF ERROR

The defendants assert the following assignments of error:

1. The trial court erred in finding that plaintiff-appellee met the burden of proof required in proving that an accident *264 occurred under LSA-R.S. 23:1021(1).
2. If the trial court was correct in finding that an accident occurred, the trial court erred in finding that plaintiff-appellee met the burden of proof required in proving that an injury resulted from any alleged accident under LSA-R.S. 23:1031(A) and LSA-R.S. 23:1021(7)(a).
3. If the trial court was correct in finding that an accident and injury occurred, the trial court erred in finding that plaintiff-appellee met the burden of proof required under LSA-R.S. 23:1021(7)(e) for the heartrelated illness of plaintiff-appellee.
4. The trial court erred in finding that the plaintiff-appellee met the burden of proof required in proving entitlement to medical benefits under LSA-R.S. 23:1203.
5. The trial court erred in failing to make specific and certain the award of medical benefits so that the rights of the parties may be determined, as required by LSA-CCP Art. 1841.

Oxley submits the following two assignments of error:

1. The hearing officer manifestly erred in granting temporary total disability benefits for a maximum period of six months.
2. The hearing officer manifestly erred in failing to find that the defendant insurer was not arbitrary and capricious in its handling of Oxley's claim and, accordingly should have awarded statutory penalties, including attorney's fees.

LAW

Defendants' Assignments Numbers 1 & 2

La.R.S. 23:1031(A) provides that an employee is entitled to workers' compensation benefits if he receives "personal injury by accident" within the course and scope of employment. See Canady v. Pynes Chrysler, Inc., 617 So.2d 566 (La.App. 3 Cir.1993). This court has held when performance of usual and customary duties of a worker causes or contributes to physical breakdown, the requirements under the workers' compensation statutes for "accidental" injury are present. See Coley v. Wilson Oil Co., 620 So.2d 445 (La.App. 3 Cir.1993).

The workers' compensation statutes define "injury" and "personal injuries" as "injuries by violence to the physical structure of the body and such disease or infections as naturally result therefrom." La.R.S. 23:1021(7)(a). We must first consider whether Oxley's heart attack was an "an unexpected or unforeseen actual, identifiable, precipitous event happening suddenly or violently," as opposed to "a gradual deterioration or progressive degeneration." La.R.S. 23:1021(1). In Canady, 617 So.2d 566, 568, we recognized that "an employee with a weakened heart, who is vulnerable to very slight strain or exertion is protected by the (workers' compensation statutes)." Id., other citations omitted.

In that case the plaintiff was disabled from a progressive heart disease known as idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy. He first experienced the symptoms of the disease on the morning of December 16 and 17, 1986, when he was overcome by pain while operating a ten pound "grinder" in the course and scope of his employment as an auto body repairman for Pynes Chrysler, Inc. He reported the incident to his employer who allowed him to return home for the rest of the day. At home, he rested the remainder of the day by lying on his couch or his bed. Canady ate supper, retired for the night, then returned to work the next morning. Id. at 567.

The next morning, after he had been grinding "two or three minutes" Canady again felt pain in his left arm, neck, shoulder and in the left side of his chest. Later that evening, his wife drove him to the hospital where he was treated and released with an inconclusive diagnosis. Canady never returned to work again and was eventually diagnosed with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy. The medical testimony, though all experts agreed Canady's heart disease predated the work episodes, established "by a preponderance of the evidence that Canady's physical exertion at work triggered the onset *265 of his previously asymptomatic condition." Id. at 569.

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710 So. 2d 261, 1998 WL 63594, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/oxley-v-sattler-lactapp-1998.