Washington Nat. Ins. Co. v. Brown

654 So. 2d 724, 94 La.App. 1 Cir. 1346, 1995 La. App. LEXIS 975, 1995 WL 240708
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedApril 7, 1995
Docket94 CA 1346
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 654 So. 2d 724 (Washington Nat. Ins. Co. v. Brown) 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
Washington Nat. Ins. Co. v. Brown, 654 So. 2d 724, 94 La.App. 1 Cir. 1346, 1995 La. App. LEXIS 975, 1995 WL 240708 (La. Ct. App. 1995).

Opinion

654 So.2d 724 (1995)

WASHINGTON NATIONAL INSURANCE COMPANY
v.
Ernest BROWN and Rosemary Brown.

No. 94 CA 1346.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, First Circuit.

April 7, 1995.
Rehearing Denied June 6, 1995.

*725 Wood Brown, III, M. Lauren Lemmon, New Orleans, for plaintiff-appellant Wash. Nat. Ins. Co.

Lawrence A. Arcell, Harold J. Lamy, New Orleans, for defendants-appellees Ernest Brown and Rosemary Brown.

Before LeBLANC, PITCHER and FITZSIMMONS, JJ.

PITCHER, Judge.

This is an appeal from a judgment denying Washington National Insurance Company's claim for reimbursement of medical expenses paid to Ernest and Rosemary Brown. We reverse and render.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

This matter originally arose out of a February 24, 1990, automobile accident in which Rosemary Brown (Mrs. Brown) was injured. Mrs. Brown was a guest passenger in an automobile that was rear-ended. At the time of the accident, Mrs. Brown's husband, Ernest Brown, was an employee of Terrebonne Parish School Board. The school board provided its employees with group health insurance through Washington National Insurance Company (Washington National). Since Mrs. Brown was a dependent of Ernest Brown (Mr. Brown), she was covered under Mr. Brown's group health policy.

Following the accident, a claim was made to Washington National on behalf of Mrs. Brown for payment of medical expenses she incurred as a result of the accident. Washington National paid $45,326.36 in medical expenses on behalf of Mr. and Mrs. Brown. Mr. Brown signed a reimbursement agreement on January 31, 1991, agreeing to reimburse Washington National through proceeds recovered from any settlement or legal action instituted for injuries Mrs. Brown sustained in the accident.

Mrs. Brown filed suit against the third party tortfeasor and the insurer of the third party tortfeasor for the damages she sustained in the accident. On November 2, 1992, Mrs. Brown signed a receipt and release agreement releasing the third party tortfeasor and its insurer from liability and accepting a lump sum of $140,000.00 in settlement her claims. As a result, Mrs. Brown's *726 lawsuit against the third party tortfeasor and its insurer was dismissed.

On May 19, 1993, Washington National filed suit against Mr. and Mrs. Brown for reimbursement of the medical expenses paid by Washington National. Trial was held on January 10, 1994. After the trial, judgment was rendered in favor of Mr. and Mrs. Brown and dismissing Washington National's lawsuit.[1] In oral reasons, the court stated that Washington National's claim had prescribed and Washington National failed to meet its burden of proof to recover the benefits paid for medical expenses. Washington National now appeals and alleges the following assignments of error:[2]

1. The trial court erred in treating an action to enforce the terms of a reimbursement clause as subrogation subject to a one year prescriptive period and triggered by the tort.
2. The trial court erred in determining that their [sic] is no distinction between subrogation and reimbursement.
3. The trial court erred in determining that Washington National's failure to intervene in the lawsuit resulted in the waiver of their right to sue for reimbursement pursuant to a reimbursement clause in a contract and there was no lien otherwise.
4. The trial court erred in distinguishing between the amount paid directly to the insured and the amount paid to the doctors and interpreting that to mean that the insured was only obligated to pay back the amount paid directly to them from Washington National.
5. The trial court erred in determining that plaintiff failed to carry its burden of proof to show what portion of the medical expenses was owed.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NUMBER ONE

Through assignment of error number one, Washington National contends that the trial court erred in concluding that the prescriptive period of one year was applicable and that its claim had prescribed. Washington National further contends that the action was brought pursuant to the reimbursement clause in its health plan, and therefore, the ten year prescriptive period for a contract action is applicable.

Washington National's contention that its action did not prescribe is supported by the case of Louviere v. Shell Oil Company, 440 So.2d 93 (La.1983). In Louviere, the plaintiffs were injured on an offshore oil platform. Within one year from the accident which caused the injuries, the plaintiffs' worker's compensation carrier, who had paid benefits to the plaintiffs, filed suit against various tortfeasors in federal district court for reimbursement of the benefits paid. The plaintiffs then filed suit against these same tortfeasors more than one year from the accident which caused their injuries.

The federal district court dismissed the claims of plaintiffs holding that although prescription was interrupted by the filing of the suit by the compensation carrier, it immediately started to run again. Since both plaintiffs filed suit more than one year after the filing of the compensation carrier's suit, both suits were barred by prescription, notwithstanding the fact that the suits were both filed during the pendency of the compensation carrier's suit. The plaintiffs appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, which via certified question, asked the Louisiana Supreme Court to instruct it as to the effect of the interruption of prescription occasioned by the filing of the compensation carrier's suit.

The Louisiana Supreme Court, in Louviere, responded that prescription was indeed interrupted by the filing of the compensation carrier's suit, since "there is only one principal cause of action, and the compensation insurer is asserting part of the employee's cause of action, because the insurer has paid part of the employee's damages and is entitled to recover to the extent of those payments as partial subrogee." Louviere v. *727 Shell Oil Co., 440 So.2d at 95. The court further stated that "when several parties share a single cause of action (as through partial subrogation), suit by one interrupts prescription as to all." Louviere v. Shell Oil Co., 440 So.2d at 96. The Louviere court went on to hold that once prescription is interrupted by the filing of a suit, interruption continues during the pendency of the suit, and begins to run anew from the last day of the interruption. See Provident Life and Accident Insurance v. Turner, 582 So.2d 250 (La.App. 1st Cir.1991).

In the instant case, the record reflects that Mrs. Brown was injured in an automobile accident on February 24, 1990, and subsequently, she filed suit against the third party tortfeasor within one year from the date of the accident. On November 2, 1992, Mrs. Brown signed a receipt and release agreement that settled her claim and agreed to dismiss her suit filed against both the third party tortfeasor and its insurer. The record does not reveal what date Mrs. Brown's suit against the third party tortfeasor was dismissed, but we can safely assume that it occurred either on or sometime after November 2, 1992.

Washington National's claim for reimbursement was interrupted during the pendency of Mrs. Brown's suit against the third party tortfeasor and began to run anew upon dismissal of Mrs. Brown's suit. We conclude that the dismissal must have occurred either on November 2, 1992 or shortly thereafter.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Harrelson v. Arcadia
68 So. 3d 663 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2011)
Cleland v. City of Lake Charles
840 So. 2d 686 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2003)
Hampton v. Hampton, Inc.
713 So. 2d 1185 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1998)
Washington National Insurance Co. v. Arnaud
676 So. 2d 1130 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1996)
Barreca v. Cobb
668 So. 2d 1129 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1996)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
654 So. 2d 724, 94 La.App. 1 Cir. 1346, 1995 La. App. LEXIS 975, 1995 WL 240708, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/washington-nat-ins-co-v-brown-lactapp-1995.