Robertson v. Great American Indemnity Company

136 So. 2d 550, 1962 La. App. LEXIS 1503
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJanuary 26, 1962
Docket422
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 136 So. 2d 550 (Robertson v. Great American Indemnity Company) 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
Robertson v. Great American Indemnity Company, 136 So. 2d 550, 1962 La. App. LEXIS 1503 (La. Ct. App. 1962).

Opinion

136 So.2d 550 (1961)

W. L. ROBERTSON, Plaintiff and Appellant,
v.
GREAT AMERICAN INDEMNITY COMPANY, Defendant and Appellee.

No. 422.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Third Circuit.

December 21, 1961.
On Application for Rehearing January 26, 1962.

Fusilier, Pucheu & Soileau, Ville Platte, for plaintiff-appellant.

Lewis & Lewis, by Seth Lewis, Sr., Opelousas, for defendant-appellee.

Before SAVOY, FRUGE and CULPEPPER, JJ.

*551 CULPEPPER, Judge.

This is a workmen's compensation suit. From an adverse judgment plaintiff has taken this appeal.

On January 30, 1959, plaintiff was working as a plasterer for Tudor Construction Company when the scaffold, on which he was standing, collapsed. Plaintiff fell to the floor and the scaffolding fell on top of him. He received a crushing type injury over the middle portion of his left foot resulting in a fracture of the first metatarsal, as well as the dislocation of all of the metatarsal bones at the metatarsal-tarsal junction lateral.

Plaintiff was initially treated by Dr. Spruill, who applied a cast to the left foot. After a period of about fourteen weeks Dr. Spruill discharged plaintiff as being able to return to work and workmen's compensation payments, which had been paid by the defendant insurer from the date of the accident, were stopped as of May 4, 1959.

Thereafter plaintiff was examined by Dr. George Briel, or his associate, on July 1, 1959, and apparently found to be disabled as of that date. This suit was filed on August 24, 1959, seeking benefits as for total and permanent disability.

On September 26, 1959, plaintiff was examined by defendant's expert witness, Dr. Daniel M. Kingsley, who found swelling, stiffness and pain in the left foot resulting from traumatic arthritis. After trying conservative treatment without success, Dr. Kingsley recommended surgery. By agreement of counsel, compensation payments were brought up to date and the operation was authorized by defendant, insurer. Dr. Kingsley performed surgery on February 11, 1960, fusing the joint involved. On July 1, 1960, Dr. Kingsley discharged plaintiff as being able to return to work.

Plaintiff has received compensation for the period from the date of the injury, January 30, 1959, to August 19, 1960, or a total of $2,835. In addition thereto, medical and hospital expenses totaling $1,114.72 have been paid by the defendant, insurer. The sole issue presented by this appeal is whether plaintiff's disability has continued since August 19, 1960, on which date workmen's compensation payments were stopped.

The plaintiff introduced in evidence the testimony of two expert medical witnesses, Dr. George B. Briel and Dr. George T. Schneider, both of whom are specialists in orthopedic surgery. Dr. Briel examined plaintiff on December 13, 1960, and the essence of his opinion is found in the following portions of his testimony:

"Q. Does that have any significance as far as disability and the ability to work long hours every day? A. Well, indirectly it does. As far as the area of fusion is concerned that apparently except for a mild amount of tenderness which is present there and there is still some swelling, the surgery appears to have corrected the previous disability which he had.
"Q. Which was traumatic arthritis, wasn't it, more or less? A. Yes, but due to the fact these joints have been fused when he comes up on his toes or on the front part of his foot, the anterior arch is pushing down considerably more on the left foot than it is on the right foot and the heads of the metatarsal bones are practically directly on the floor.
"Q. Would that condition cause him to have pain or aches at the end of a work day where he would be working in a stooping position and climbing scaffolding and so forth, Doctor? A. I think anyone who has that much depression of the anterior arches will have a considerable amount of pain after they have put any amount of pressure on the metatarsal joints after any prolonged period of time.

* * * * * *

"I estimated that due to the fact that this type of condition will after *552 a few hours time cause pain that this man could probably work somewhere between four and six hours a day without having too much pain but that he would" "have pain definitely in kneeling and in climbing or working on uneven scaffolds and such as he told me, and I estimated that he could do approximately seventy per cent of his ordinary work as a plasterer without having too much difficulty.

* * * * * *

"Q. In other words, you feel Mr. Robertson is disabled for doing all the types of plastering for a straight eight hour day? A. Yes, I think if he would work eight hours a day on the foot in the condition I found that he would certainly have pain.
"Q. And he would be working a half day with pain? A. Well, he would be working approximately two to four hours with pain.
"Q. Every day? A. I am sure he would."

Plaintiff's witness, Dr. Schneider, examined plaintiff on February 16, 1961. Dr. Schneider's opinion was substantially the same as that of Dr. Briel as is shown by the following from his testimony:

"Q. How long do you think he would have to work in matters of hours or days before he would be compelled to stay without working because of this disability, Doctor? A. I feel that would be entirely dependent on the extent of the strenuous nature of his activity. In other words, if he were involved in a similar type of employment such as that in which he was engaged but one where he would not be subject to a lot of standing where it is possible that he would be able to, say, possibly work in a sitting position depending on the demands of his occupation that he would probably be able to do very well under those circumstances, but by the same token if he had to do climbing and traverse irregular areas and similar situations with prolonged weight bearing I feel he would have a great deal of difficulty in a relatively short time."

The defendant, likewise, introduced the testimony of two specialists in orthopedics. Dr. Daniel M. Kingsley testified that as of the date he discharged plaintiff on July 1, 1960, he was able to return to work as a plasterer on a full time basis. Dr. Kingsley stated that actually the plaintiff had told him on May 31, 1960, that "he had been working regularly and he had practically no complaints" except a "little ache at the end of the day". It was Dr. Kingsley's opinion that plaintiff had lost only 10% of the use of his foot and that he had already demonstrated he could return to work as a plasterer.

Defendant's witness, Dr. William Louis Meulman, who examined plaintiff on January 23, 1961, was of the opinion that although plaintiff had lost from 10% to 15% of the use of his left foot, he could still work as a plasterer for a full eighthour day without experiencing substantial pain. The essence of Dr. Meulman's opinion is found in the following portion of his testimony:

"Q. What is your thought of the pain the man would have at the site of the injury if he would work as a plasterer for eight hours a day? A. At the site of the injury I would be hard put to give much pain element because a good fusion is about the best setup that a man can have. I felt that any pain that he might have would be be more attributable to the depression of the transverse arch, and this is the type of thing that, well, I think probably more of a darn nuisance or annoyance rather than a pain factor.
"Q.

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Bluebook (online)
136 So. 2d 550, 1962 La. App. LEXIS 1503, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/robertson-v-great-american-indemnity-company-lactapp-1962.