Thibodeaux v. Carroll's Towing

150 So. 3d 551, 14 La.App. 3 Cir. 555, 2014 La. App. LEXIS 2669, 2014 WL 5654534
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedNovember 5, 2014
DocketNo. WCA 14-555
StatusPublished

This text of 150 So. 3d 551 (Thibodeaux v. Carroll's Towing) 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
Thibodeaux v. Carroll's Towing, 150 So. 3d 551, 14 La.App. 3 Cir. 555, 2014 La. App. LEXIS 2669, 2014 WL 5654534 (La. Ct. App. 2014).

Opinion

PICKETT, Judge.

|tA workers’ compensation claimant appeals the dismissal of his claims for indemnity and medical benefits and penalties and attorney fees. We affirm.

FACTS

In March 2012, Earl J. Thibodeaux was employed by Carroll’s Towing as a tow truck operator. He filed a Form 1008 Disputed Claim for Compensation, seeking indemnity and medical benefits from Carroll’s Towing for an injury to his right knee. He alleged that the injury occurred on March 21, 2012, when he was hooking a car to his tow truck. Mr. Thibodeaux amended his claim to add D.C. RENT TO OWN/D.C. RENT TO OWN LLC D/B/A EVERYBODY RIDES as a defendant after that entity filed an answer to his claim as the payor for Carroll’s Towing.

Trial was held October 21, 2013. Mr. Thibodeaux and two employees of Carroll’s Towing, Michelle Patín and Sandra Do-mingue, testified at trial. Mr. Thibodeaux submitted the deposition of Stephanie Lea and medical records of Lafayette General Medical Center (LGMC), Dr. Andre Via-tor/SWLA Center for Health Services (SWLA), and Dr. Michel Heard in support of his claim.

Mr. Thibodeaux testified that on the evening of March 21, 2012, he had to drive to from Lafayette to Alexandria and tow a Chevrolet Impala back to Lafayette. He described injuring his right knee as follows: ‘Whenever I went down to hook the chains on the driver’s side, I felt something stab me in the knee. I checked, there was nothing on the ground.” Mr. Thibodeaux explained that at the time, he did not believe the knee pain was anything serious, so he went home and slept. He further testified that when he awoke the next morning, his knee was |2swollen the size of a basketball and that he knew he needed to report the incident to Ms. Patín, his supervisor at Carroll’s Towing. According to Mr. Thibodeaux, he texted Ms. ■Patín that morning, and she called him after she got to the office. Mr. Thibo-deaux then testified that he explained to Ms. Patín how he injured his right knee the night before and that she told him it did not matter if he needed to go to the hospital.

Mr. Thibodeaux testified that he then went to the office where he showed his right knee to Ms. Patín and Ms. Domingue and explained to them exactly how he injured it the night before when preparing to hook the Chevrolet Impala to his truck. Mr. Thibodeaux stated that he was transported to LGMC by Stephanie Lea, another tow truck driver he was training.

Mr. Thibodeaux’s history of injury was recorded on March 22, 2012; by LGMC emergency room personnel as: “e/o right knee pain that started last night, denies injury or trauma. Swelling noted to right knee, pt ambulates with a limp.” Four days later on March 26, 2012, SWLA recorded Mr. Thibodeaux’s history as: “patient state [sic] that he [sic] here for right [554]*554knee pain x6 days. No trauma, drives toe [sic] trucks, nothing out of ordinary. Knee swelling the next day.”

Ms. Patin testified that at the time Mr. Thibodeaux was injured she was employed as a manager at Carroll’s Towing, but she quit in early summer of 2012 to be home with her children. Ms. Patin further testified that the morning of March 22, 2012, Mr. Thibodeaux went into the office and stated that he needed to go to the doctor because he hurt his knee. Ms. Patin explained that she asked him what happened, and he replied, “he didn’t know.” She denied that Mr. Thibodeaux gave any details as to how he injured his knee and stated that he told her he injured his Isknee while kneeling on it. She further denied that Mr. Thibodeaux texted or called her that morning before arriving at the office and told her that he injured himself.

Ms. Patin next testified that later that morning the LGMC billing office contacted her and asked if Carroll’s Towing would be responsible for Mr. Thibodeaux’s medical treatment. Ms. Patin informed the caller that Carroll’s Towing would not be responsible because it was not work related. Ms. Patin then testified that the caller stated, “That’s what he said first, but he said that y’all were going to be paying for the bill.” Ms. Patin picked Mr. Thibodeaux up from the hospital and drove him home. She testified that during the ride, Mr. Thibo-deaux did not relate his knee injury to work.

Ms. Patin was questioned about other truck drivers employed by Carroll’s Towing at the time of Mr. Thibodeaux’s injury. She testified that at the time, Carroll’s Towing had two tow truck drivers other than Mr. Thibodeaux: Richard Wingate and Stephanie Lea. Ms. Patin explained that Ms. Lea was in training at that time but was fired because she was not quick enough at the work.

Ms. Domingue testified that she is a dispatcher, secretary, and office manager for Carroll’s Towing and had worked in the same capacities in March 2012. She related that on the morning of March 22, 2012, Mr. Thibodeaux went into the office and reported that he had injured himself. In response to his statement, Ms. Patin asked him how he injured himself, and he answered that he did not know. When asked directly, Ms. Domingue denied that Mr. Thibodeaux explained or related any information as to how he injured him. Ms. Domingue next testified that Mr. Thibo-deaux made arrangements for Stephanie Lea, another employee of Carroll’s Towing, to transport him to the hospital and that she did not see him again.

|4Ms. Lea testified in her deposition that on March 21, 2012, Mr. Thibodeaux was training her as a tow truck driver for Carroll’s Towing. She further testified that Mr. Thibodeaux called her that evening when he was returning to Lafayette after picking up the Chevrolet Impala in Alexandria and told her that he hurt himself or pulled a muscle “on the repo.” The next morning Ms. Lea reported to work and was in the office when Ms. Patin asked her to take Earl to the hospital. Ms. Lea explained that she asked, “For what?” and Ms. Patin stated that Earl hurt himself. Ms. Lea also testified that Mr. Thibodeaux asked Ms. Patin if workers’ compensation would pay for the hospital and that Ms. Patin stated she would have to ask the owner of Carroll’s Towing. According to Ms. Lea, during the discussion, she interjected that Mr. Thibodeaux got hurt at work and asked why workers’ compensation would not pay for the charges. Ms. Lea also testified that while in the office that morning before she took him to the hospital, she heard Mr. Thibodeaux tell [555]*555Ms. Patín and/or Ms. Domingue that he hurt himself at work. Ms. Lea then related that she was laid off that day because there was no driver to train her.

After the trial, the workers’ compensation judge (WCJ) took the matter under advisement. In early November 2012, the WCJ issued an oral ruling on the record in which he concluded: (1) Mr. Thibodeaux was not a credible witness; (2) Ms. Patín and Ms. Domingue were credible witnesses; (3) Ms. Patín and Ms. Domingue’s testimonies and the medical records of LGMC and SWLA contradicted Mr. Thi-bodeaux’s claim that he injured his right knee on the evening of March 21, 2012, while in the course and scope of his work. Those findings led the WCJ to conclude that Mr. Thibodeaux had not carried his burden of proving that he was injured in the course and scope of his employment, and the WCJ ^dismissed Mr. Thibodeaux’s claims at his cost. A judgment dismissing Mr. Thibodeaux’s claims was signed, and he appealed that judgment.

ASSIGNMENTS OF ERROR

On appeal, Mr. Thibodeaux assigns the following four errors with the WCJ’s conclusions:

1.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
150 So. 3d 551, 14 La.App. 3 Cir. 555, 2014 La. App. LEXIS 2669, 2014 WL 5654534, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/thibodeaux-v-carrolls-towing-lactapp-2014.