Pamela Parquet, as Curatrix for Derron Micah Parquet Versus Louisiana Homecare of Lutcher, L.L.C. and Eddie Hebert

CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMarch 30, 2022
Docket21-CA-452
StatusUnknown

This text of Pamela Parquet, as Curatrix for Derron Micah Parquet Versus Louisiana Homecare of Lutcher, L.L.C. and Eddie Hebert (Pamela Parquet, as Curatrix for Derron Micah Parquet Versus Louisiana Homecare of Lutcher, L.L.C. and Eddie Hebert) 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
Pamela Parquet, as Curatrix for Derron Micah Parquet Versus Louisiana Homecare of Lutcher, L.L.C. and Eddie Hebert, (La. Ct. App. 2022).

Opinion

PAMELA PARQUET, AS CURATRIX FOR NO. 21-CA-451 C/W DERRON MICAH PARQUET 21-CA-452

VERSUS FIFTH CIRCUIT

LOUISIANA HOMECARE OF LUTCHER, COURT OF APPEAL L.L.C. AND EDDIE HEBERT STATE OF LOUISIANA

ON APPEAL FROM THE FORTIETH JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT PARISH OF ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST, STATE OF LOUISIANA NO. 63,490 C/W 68,781, DIVISION "C" HONORABLE J. STERLING SNOWDY, JUDGE PRESIDING

March 30, 2022

SUSAN M. CHEHARDY CHIEF JUDGE

Panel composed of Judges Susan M. Chehardy, Jude G. Gravois, and John J. Molaison, Jr.

AFFIRMED SMC JGG JJM COUNSEL FOR PLAINTIFF/APPELLANT, PAMELA PARQUET, AS LEGAL SUCCESSOR FOR DERRON MICAH PARQUET Robert S. Abdalian

COUNSEL FOR DEFENDANT/APPELLEE, LOUISIANA HOMECARE OF LUTCHER, L.L.C. AND EDDIE J. HEBERT, R.N. Peter E. Sperling Nairda T. Colon Halley S. Carter CHEHARDY, C.J.

Plaintiff, Pamela Parquet, as legal successor to her deceased son, Derron

Parquet, appeals the trial court’s ruling granting summary judgment in favor of

defendants, Louisiana HomeCare of Lutcher, L.L.C. d/b/a Ochsner Home Health

of Lutcher (“OHH”), and Eddie J. Hebert, R.N. For the reasons that follow, we

affirm the trial court’s judgment.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Derron Parquet was diagnosed in February 2006 with meningoencephalitis,

which rendered him mute and a quadriplegic. Because Derron, then 24 years old,

was unable to care for himself in any way, his mother, Ms. Parquet, became his

primary caregiver in June 2006; in July 2009, she was legally appointed his

curatrix.

Constantly bedridden, Derron suffered multiple respiratory infections,

urinary tract infections, and pressure wounds. In May 2011, Derron was discharged

from St. James Parish Hospital with a referral for home health services to continue

his care after a lengthy hospitalization. Ms. Parquet contracted with OHH to

provide weekly nursing care for Derron. Nurse Hebert visited the Parquet home on

May 4, 2011, to conduct an initial assessment, which was followed by weekly

skilled nursing visits from either Nurse Hebert or Nurse Coleman through mid-

June.

On June 15, 2011, Ms. Parquet bathed Derron and put him in clean, dry

clothes in anticipation of another skilled nursing visit from OHH. Nurse Hebert

arrived and attended to Derron while Ms. Parquet worked outside. When Ms.

Parquet came inside, she alleges that Nurse Hebert was yelling “I have to wash my

hands” and that Nurse Hebert was acting very strange. Ms. Parquet claims that she

then entered her son’s room and found him soaked with sweat and found feces in

21-CA-451 C/W 21-CA-452 1 his diaper.1 Ms. Parquet also claims that her son’s demeanor had changed.2

According to Ms. Parquet, Nurse Hebert had been alone with Derron for

approximately 30 minutes.

Later that day, Ms. Parquet attempted to call the OHH Director of Nursing,

Tanya Morris, R.N., but Ms. Parquet did not speak to Nurse Morris until the next

day, when Nurse Morris indicated that she would send someone other than Nurse

Hebert for Derron’s home health visits. Ms. Parquet ultimately severed the home-

health contract with OHH.

On June 21, 2011, Nurse Hebert produced written documentation of his June

15 skilled nursing visit with Derron, which stated that he assessed the patient for

wounds, PEG tube placement, and vital signs. Nurse Hebert indicated that Ms.

Parquet had been mopping the floor, that she seemed irritated, and that she

instructed him not to walk on the floor until it was dry. Later he assisted Ms.

Parquet in changing Derron’s shirt, which was wet. Nurse Hebert stated in the

documentation that he felt Ms. Parquet was irritated and upset as he was leaving.

Ms. Parquet alleges that when she asked her son a few days later whether

Nurse Hebert had molested him, Derron “blinked twice,” which she says means

“yes.” Ms. Parquet also collected what she believed was evidence of the alleged

sexual assault and turned it over to the St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff’s Office.3

1 Ms. Parquet contends that this was abnormal because it was not possible for Derron to have a bowel movement without a suppository, and she had not given him a suppository that day. 2 Ms. Parquet claims she could communicate with her son by asking him yes-or-no questions and that he would answer by blinking once for “no” and twice for “yes.” Ms. Parquet’s deposition testimony indicated that when she entered Derron’s room after Nurse Hebert’s June 15, 2011 visit, in addition to finding him drenched in sweat, Derron’s penis was outside the “male guard” of his adult diaper and erect on his stomach, which she claimed was “out of the ordinary in the extreme.” Ms. Parquet testified that after the incident, Derron experienced a “marked and sudden change” in his affect and he was “despondent, less perky, sad, crying out during the night, breathing differently, and less communicative.” Ms. Parquet claimed that between June 15, 2011 and June 18, 2011, “[w]hen he couldn’t get my attention crying out loud, he’d lay quietly and just blink his eyes real fast and tears would just fall out of his eyes.” 3 Ms. Parquet explained that she gathered gauze with which she had cleaned Derron, as well as hair fragments and Vaseline found in the adult diaper and the diaper itself, plus photographs of this evidence, and turned it over to the St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff’s Office. There is no

21-CA-451 C/W 21-CA-452 2 According to Nurse Hebert’s July 10, 2018 affidavit, the Sheriff’s Office

interviewed him and ultimately determined that no probable cause existed. Ms.

Parquet also reported the alleged assault to the Louisiana Department of Health

and Hospitals and the Louisiana State Board of Nursing. The State Board also did

not pursue any discipline against Nurse Hebert or take any action against his

license.4

Through counsel, Ms. Parquet, acting on behalf of her son, filed a Complaint

with the Louisiana Patient’s Compensation Fund in 2012 alleging that OHH was

negligent in failing to properly conduct a background check on Nurse Hebert and

failing to supervise its employees – claims that fall within the ambit of the

Louisiana Medical Malpractice Act, La. R.S. 40:1231.1, et seq. Ms. Parquet, as

curatrix for Derron, also filed a 2012 lawsuit in the St. John the Baptist Parish

district court, asserting claims (i) against Nurse Hebert for the alleged June 15,

2011 sexual battery and assault on Derron, and for taking advantage of Derron’s

“paraplegic and mute state”, and (ii) against OHH for (a) failure to conduct a

background investigation of Nurse Hebert and failure to supervise (which claims

had been submitted to the Medical Review Panel), and (b) respondeat superior

liability for Nurse Hebert’s intentional acts. The parties to the case entered into a

consent judgment agreeing to stay the assault and battery claims against Nurse

Hebert and the respondeat superior claims against OHH while the claims against

OHH for negligently investigating Nurse Hebert’s background and negligent

supervision proceeded before the Medical Review Panel.

explanation in the record as to what happened to this evidence – only a letter stating that the Sheriff’s Office found no cause to bring charges. 4 The letter from the Louisiana State Board of Nursing stated: “Although the Board could take disciplinary action, it is believed that the best interests of the public would not be served by further action of this case, or by the Board filing charges against your license.

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Pamela Parquet, as Curatrix for Derron Micah Parquet Versus Louisiana Homecare of Lutcher, L.L.C. and Eddie Hebert, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/pamela-parquet-as-curatrix-for-derron-micah-parquet-versus-louisiana-lactapp-2022.