Thompson v. Louisiana Central Lumber Co.

2 La. App. 200, 1925 La. App. LEXIS 414
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMay 9, 1925
DocketNo. 2309
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 2 La. App. 200 (Thompson v. Louisiana Central Lumber Co.) 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
Thompson v. Louisiana Central Lumber Co., 2 La. App. 200, 1925 La. App. LEXIS 414 (La. Ct. App. 1925).

Opinions

CARVER, J.

This is a suit under the workmen’s compensation act. Both parties appeal from a judgment awarding plaintiff $14.40 per week for 175 weeks and during disability, not exceeding 225 additional weeks, less $210.00 deducted from the first amounts due, and' less an additional $1151.00 to be paid by deducting the amount of compensation due at the time of the judgment and the balance by deducting 50% of the weekly compensation allowed until paid.

The proof shows that on October 23, 1923, the plaintiff then 19 years old, while working for defendant as a “swamper” clearing roads for its log wagons, accidently cut his left leg just above the knee. Defendant had him placed in the St. Francis Sanitarium at Monroe and his wound treated by Doctors Beetle and Ben-dell. They tried to save the leg, but it had become badly infected and on or about December 25, 1923; they amputated it just above the knee.

He remained at the Sanitarium until about January 29, 1924, when his uncle, John A. Moore, who had partially raised him and who stood to him as a parent, his father and mother both having died, when 'he was quite young, took him over the objection of defendant to Shreveport. Moore tried to place him in the Charity Hospital, but that institution refused to receive him because he was entitled to compensation from his employer.

Thereupon Moore telephoned to the office of defendant at Clark’s, Louisiana, he says he recived no satisfaction at this place, whereupon he called ■ up the head man of defendant at Pineville or Alexandria and was told to carry him to Schumpert Sanitarium, which was done. His condition on arrival there is described by Dr. Willis as follows:

"Yes, I first saw him on January 29, 1924. He came into the Sanitarium very emaciated, had bed sores over his back and both hips as big as saucers and the left leg was amputated above the knee. General condition very good.”

[202]*202He further stated (page 14) that there Were three large sores about the size of a round s’aucer with the bone exposed in the center from both hips and the sacrum and back bone.

And further, ' (page 15) “He was so emaciated you could easily lift him with both hands”.

He remained in the Schumpert Sanitarium until September 19, 1924, when he was discharged.

Dr. Willis says (page 11):

“His condition on discharge was that the stump of his left leg was healed, his general condition was good. We considered him in good shape and expected him to make a good recovery in about three or four months, of course, with the loss of the leg.”
"Q. Had the toxins due to the infection entirely disappeared when he was discharged?
“A. Yes.”

He further gave it as his opinion that after three or four months from the time of discharge he would be all right, except for the loss of the leg.

While in the Schumpert Sanitarium his leg was reamputated near the hip;. Dr. Willis stating that this was necessary because the bone was protruding beyond the muscle and skin tissue.

On January 10, 1925, Doctors E. L. Sanderson, S. C. Barrow and O. C. Rigby gave testimony, they having examined him December 31, 1924. Dr. Barrow had taken x-ray pictures of his right knee joint and stated that it was affected with arthritis; that the cartilage had become partly absorbed; and there was inflamation of the parenthymatous membrane; all of which thought was caused by general infection of the system.

Dr. Rigby testified, page 22:

“On physical examination he looked somewhat emaciated and extremely weak. His pulse was one hundred and forty and his temperature was one hundred. His respiration was about twenty. The left leg is amputated at the junction of the middle upper third of the fema. The right leg shows some atrophy of the muscles of the knee joint with some contraction of the flexor muscles and tenons of the knee. The foot is bluish in color, and cold, due to poor circulation. The lungs, on examination with a stethescope, ' did not reveal any rels or anything that might lead you to suspect tuberculosis. The heart does not seem to be enlarged but is very rapid. His general appearance is that of a disease of infection of some kind in which it has gone all over the body, but must have been absorbed up. The x-ray which was taken of the knee joint shows chronic arthritis, with an absorbtion of the cartilage in the knee.”

He further testified, page 24:

“I think his knee will always be impaired, and it is probable that he otherwise may be impaired from the standpoint of his heart and lungs.”

He further testified page 25:

“I don’t believe he will ever be able to doi manual labor any more.”

Dr. Sanderson testified, page 30:

“Well, I am convinced that this man having gone through a long period of septic infection, that all the tissues in his body were infected and naturally the larger joints in your body suffer from general septic poisoning more so than the other parts. I don’t say that they suffer more, but their function is more impaired because of their greater importance. I think when this man got out of bed and began to walk that his knee joint had been so affected that the pressure necessary to carry the whole weight of his body, even if that knee were normal, was too great, and it produced a hypo-atrophy of the tissues around the joint, that is, there was some enlargement, nature trying to make it stronger with absorption of the cartilage that lined the joint. I think the absorption the x-ray shows took place after the man got up his weight bearing in the knee joint twice as much as the knee was accustomed to carrying and that the cartilage was diseased and they would not stand the bearing, and that cartilage was ah[203]*203sorbed, leaving the bone practically without .any bearing.”

Further, on page 32:

“I think he is totally disabled and permanently disabled.”

At the time of the trial. Dr. Hines examined the plaintiff at defendant’s request but was not asked to testify.

While in the Schumpert Sanitarium plaintiff’s right leg had become crooked and an effort was made to straighten it by the use of a plaster of paris cast. This effort, though, was unsuccessful as the leg became crooked again soon after taking the cast off and at the time of trial was still crooked to the extent of about six inches.

Plaintiff testified that he had made efforts by the help of school children and others to straighten the leg but could not do it and could not bear his weight on it without crutches. He further said that he was subject to falling and that he had chills when he ate anything hard to digest. Also that while his normal weight was 172 pounds that he then weighed only a little over 100. And further, that he had been very much more emaciated but had gained in weight until about six weeks before the trial, which was on January 15, 1925, at which time he had ceased to gain.

The evidence satisfies us that plaintiff’s condition is one of total and permanent disability.

Plaintiff alleges and swears that his wages at the time of the accident were $3.50 a day and board.

Rosser, the contractor under defendant for whom plaintiff worked testified that it was $3.00 a day and board.

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Related

Washington v. Holmes Barnes
5 So. 2d 195 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1941)
Williams v. Campbell
185 So. 683 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1938)
Nichols v. Tall Timber Lumber Co. of Louisiana
145 So. 691 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1933)
Seur v. Rumbaugh
6 La. App. 587 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1927)

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Bluebook (online)
2 La. App. 200, 1925 La. App. LEXIS 414, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/thompson-v-louisiana-central-lumber-co-lactapp-1925.