Viars v. St. Anthony's Nursing Home

836 So. 2d 1143, 2002 La.App. 5 Cir. 1042, 2003 La. App. LEXIS 80, 2003 WL 186635
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJanuary 28, 2003
DocketNo. 02-CA-1042
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 836 So. 2d 1143 (Viars v. St. Anthony's Nursing Home) 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
Viars v. St. Anthony's Nursing Home, 836 So. 2d 1143, 2002 La.App. 5 Cir. 1042, 2003 La. App. LEXIS 80, 2003 WL 186635 (La. Ct. App. 2003).

Opinion

I,SUSAN M. CHEHARDY, Judge.

In this workers’ compensation matter, after trial, the workers’ compensation judge found that the claimant suffered a compensable work-related injury, ordered claimant’s employer to pay all medical expenses resulting from that accident as well as supplemental earnings benefits for a specific period of time. The judge found, however, that claimant failed to establish a causal connection between her work-related accident and the disability that resulted from a subsequent motor vehicle accident. For the following reasons, we affirm.

Fact and Procedural History

In January of 1996, Lori Viars became a licensed practical nurse. In June of that year, Ms. Viars was in a serious motor vehicle accident, in which she suffered injuries to her neck, back, right knee, and [1145]*1145head.1 Eventually, Viars returned to the work force.

In January of 2000, Lori Viars began working for St. Anthony’s Nursing Home(“St.Anthony’s”) as a licensed practical nurse. Unfortunately, on July 11, 2000, while attempting to clean out the bottom drawer of the nurse’s medication Iscart, Viars was injured when the cart fell over onto her and several items struck her on the head. According to Viars, her left arm, right knee, right hip, right lower back, and her neck were injured in this accident. Further, she began to experience severe headaches on the right side of her head after the accident. Although Viars continued her shift that day, Viars requested and received medical treatment, at her employer’s expense, on July 13, 2000 for injuries she received in the accident. After she was examined, the treating physician restricted Viars to “light duty” at work.

From July 11, 2000 until September 27, 2000, Viars continued to work at St. Anthony’s under a “light duty” restriction. Although the parties differ as to the reason, all agree that, from September 27, 2000 until October 4, 2000, Viars was suspended from work. On October 4, 2000, on her way to work, Viars was involved in another motor vehicle accident. In that accident, she suffered an injury that resulted in pain in her left lower back and shoulders.

On October 25, 2000, the claimant, Lori Viars, filed a disputed claim for compensation with the Office of Workers’ Compensation against her employer, defendant, St. Anthony’s, and its insurer, LUBA. Viars alleged that she suffered a compensable injury while in the course and scope of her employment with St. Anthony’s, which was exacerbated to the level of disability by a subsequent motor vehicle accident, but that defendants refused to pay disability benefits or authorize medical treatment after the subsequent motor vehicle accident.

On October 25, 2001, the matter proceeded to trial before the Office of Workers’ Compensation judge, who took the matter under advisement and left the record open for submission of post-trial mem-oranda. On December 11, 2001, the judge rendered judgment, finding that Viars suffered a compensable work-related injury on July 11, 2000; awarded supplemental earnings benefits of $384.00 per week from September 27, 2000 through October 4, 2000 (the date of the |4subsequent accident); and ordered payment of all medical bills and medication expenses resulting from the July 11, 2000 accident. The judge found, however, that the claimant did not' establish a causal connection between her July 11, 2000 work-related accident and the disability that she suffered after her October 4, 2000 motor vehicle accident.

Viars has appealed, assigning four errors: the trial court erred in failing to recognize that job-related injuries that are later aggravated in a subsequent accident remain compensable; the trial court erroneously concluded that plaintiffs ‘disability’ ended on October 4, 2000 when she had a second accident; the employer’s responsibility for medical expenses should be specified since the trial court failed to make a specification; and penalties and attorney’s fees are warranted, but were not awarded by the trial court.

It is well settled that the claimant in a workers’ compensation case has the burden of proving a work-related accident and resultihg injury by a preponder-[1146]*1146anee of the evidence. Bruno v. Harbert International, Inc., 593 So.2d 357, 361 (La.1992). The claimant’s testimony may suffice to meet the burden, provided there is no other evidence sufficient to discredit or cast doubt upon the claimant’s version of the incident, and his testimony is corroborated by circumstances following the accident. Id. Corroboration of the worker’s testimony may, be provided by the testimony of fellow workers, spouses or friends; corroboration may also be provided by medical evidence. Id.

When a work-related injury is subsequently exacerbated, the aggravation is regarded as a development of the initial accident, and not an intervening cause, even though it occurs away from work and even after the employment is terminated. Hanover Ins. Co. v. Allstate Ins. Co., 554 So.2d 1261, 1264 (La.App. 1st Cir.1989). It is a compensable injury for workers’ compensation purposes, and the employer is obligated to continue paying benefits. Stewart v. Hospitals Affiliates Int’l, 404 So.2d 944, 945 (La.1981). The key question is whether the off-the-job injury was foreseeable and came about as a result of the work injury having predisposed the victim to future injury. If so, the subsequent injury is compensable. Hanover, 554 So.2d at 1264.

Lastly, although the claimant does not necessarily have to establish the exact cause of the disability, the claimant must demonstrate by a preponderance of proof that the accident had a causal connection with the disability. Woods v. Ryan Chevrolet, Inc., 30,206 (La.App. 2 Cir. 2/25/98), 709 So.2d 251, writ denied, 98-1169 (La.6/5/98), 720 So.2d 689. An injured worker’s disability is presumed to have resulted from an accident, if before the accident the worker was healthy and thereafter the symptoms of the disabling condition appear continuously, and if the medical evidence shows a reasonable possibility of a causal connection between the accident and the injury. Lucas v. Insurance Co. of North America, 342 So.2d 591 (La.1977). If the evidence leaves the probabilities of causation equally balanced, the claimant has failed to carry her burden of proof. Bernard v. O’Leary Brothers Signs, Inc., 606 So.2d 1331 (La.App. 3 Cir.1992).

The standard of review of findings of fact of a hearing officer in a workers’ compensation case is manifest error. Doucet v. Baker Hughes Prod. Tools, 93-3087, p. 4 (La.3/11/94), 635 So.2d 166, 168 n. 3; Bruno v. Harbert Int’l, supra. Under this standard, the reviewing court does not ask whether the factfinder is right or wrong, but whether its conclusion was reasonable. Stobart v. State, through Department of Transportation and Development, 617 So.2d 880 (La.1993). These findings will be reversed only if they are clearly wrong.

In written reasons, the workers’ compensation judge found that the claimant was injured in a work-related accident on July 11, 2000, but that claimant failed to establish a causal connection between that work-related accident and the disability that resulted from a subsequent motor vehicle accident. We have reviewed the | (¡entire record in this case, including the volumes of Viars’ medical records introduced at the workers’ compensation hearing, particularly those for treatment in the year 2000. We observed the following from the record.

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836 So. 2d 1143, 2002 La.App. 5 Cir. 1042, 2003 La. App. LEXIS 80, 2003 WL 186635, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/viars-v-st-anthonys-nursing-home-lactapp-2003.