Wise v. Lapworth

614 So. 2d 728, 1993 WL 41170
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedFebruary 10, 1993
Docket92-CA-281
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 614 So. 2d 728 (Wise v. Lapworth) 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
Wise v. Lapworth, 614 So. 2d 728, 1993 WL 41170 (La. Ct. App. 1993).

Opinion

614 So.2d 728 (1993)

Jules A. WISE, Sr.
v.
John E. LAPWORTH, Robin Cheatham and Lapworth Construction Company.

No. 92-CA-281.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fifth Circuit.

February 10, 1993.

*729 John L. Diasselliss, III, LaPlace, for plaintiff/appellant Jules A. Wise, Sr.

George B. Recile, New Orleans, for defendants/appellees John E. Lapworth and Lapworth Const. Co.

Richard B. Eason, II, Adams and Reese, New Orleans, for defendant/appellee Robin Cheatham.

Before KLIEBERT, WICKER and CANNELLA, JJ.

CANNELLA, Judge.

Plaintiff, Jules Wise (Wise), appeals from a judgment dismissing his suit against defendants, John E. Lapworth (Lapworth), John Lapworth Construction Company and Robin Cheatham (Cheatham), for breach of contract and negligence for failing to provide worker's compensation insurance. We affirm.

On July 29, 1988 Wise submitted a proposal to Lapworth (the job supervisor) to perform framing carpentry work for the construction of a house owned by Cheatham. The proposal described the work to be performed, the bid price, the manner of payment and that worker's compensation insurance was to be taken out by Lapworth. Shortly thereafter, Wise was told by Lapworth to begin working on the project. Wise hired workers and eventually began putting the roof on the home. On September 22, 1988, while working on the roof, he slipped and fell approximately twenty-two feet to the ground. As a result, he broke his wrist and fractured and dislocated his elbow.

Wise was hospitalized for four days at East Jefferson General Hospital where Dr. John Montz, an orthopedic surgeon, repositioned his elbow and operated on his elbow to remove the fragmented joint. He wore an elbow brace and the elbow was dislocated again. It was again repaired. He was then placed in a long-arm cast. His broken wrist was discovered later and treated. Wise was treated by Dr. Montz until October 25, 1988, when he went to another orthopedic surgeon, Dr. David Aiken, Jr. He complained of pain in the right arm, wrist and shoulder and Dr. Aiken put him in a short-arm cast so that he could begin to get motion back in his elbow. In November, 1988 he removed the cast and sent Wise to a physical therapist. Dr. Aiken saw him again in January, 1989 and he showed gradual improvement. Wise did *730 not return as scheduled. Nine days before trial, he again saw Dr. Aiken and complained about pain in his elbow, wrist and shoulder. Dr. Aiken attributed the pain in the wrist and elbow to the early onset of arthritis and the pain in the right shoulder to compensation for discomfort in the arm and wrist. During the more than two years between the visits to Dr. Aiken, Wise reached maximum medical recovery.

Two days following the accident, while Wise was in the hospital, Cheatham visited him. He produced a document, offering to pay all of his medical expenses incurred in connection with the fall, in exchange for a release of liability from all claims. Wise signed the release on September 24, 1988 and, eventually, all medical bills were paid.

Wise next sought worker's compensation benefits from defendants and was refused. Then, on September 22, 1989, he filed a claim for benefits with the Worker's Compensation Administration Office, pursuant to La.R.S. 23:1209, against John Lapworth. He also filed this suit that same day against defendants. The suit asserted breach of contract and negligence for failing to provide worker's compensation insurance as required by the contract and in not informing him that insurance was not provided, thereby preventing him from obtaining his own insurance. Wise asked for damages, the amount of worker's compensation benefits he would have received if the defendants had not acted as they did.

Wise received the recommendation of the Office of Worker's Compensation on October 31, 1989, denying him benefits because he was neither a direct nor statutory employee of Lapworth. He never formally rejected the decision within 30 days nor filed an appeal pursuant to La.R.S. 23:1311. Wise asked his attorney to file an appeal, but, his attorney withdrew prior to expiration of the appeal delays and Wise did not further pursue the appealing.

On November 21, 1989, an Exception Of No Cause And No Right Of Action was filed by Cheatham. It was set on specific dates and eventually, on March 26, 1990, was continued without date. On October 9, 1991, an Exception Of Prescription (to any worker's compensation claim) and a Motion For Article 863 Sanctions were filed by Lapworth. On October 9, 1991, before trial, the court held that the Exception Of Prescription was moot. Trial was held on October 9 and 10, 1991 and October 29, 1991 the trial judge rendered judgment in favor of defendants and against Wise, dismissing his suit and the Motion For Article 863 Sanctions was denied. On November 6, 1991 Wise filed a motion for written reasons and then appealed.

Wise asserts eight assignments of error which this court condenses into four. He contends, first, that the trial judge erred in not finding defendants liable for breach of contract or negligence in failing to provide him with worker's compensation insurance and not informing him that insurance was not obtained. Second, he contends that the trial judge erred in dismissing his worker's compensation claim against defendants and finding that it had prescribed. Third, he contends that the trial judge erred in refusing to admit into evidence the testimony of Dr. David W. Aiken, Jr. Fourth, he contends that the trial judge erred in his determination that Wise's damages were not proved.

Breach of Contract

Wise contends that Lapworth and Cheatham breached the contract to supply worker's compensation insurance to himself and his workers. He refers to the proposal he submitted before beginning work.

La.C.C. art. 1906 defines a contract as "an agreement by two or more parties whereby obligations are created, modified, or extinguished." It is formed by consent through offer and acceptance, which may be made orally, in writing, or by any action or inaction that under the circumstances clearly indicates consent. La.C.C. art. 1927. Certain formalities are not necessary unless prescribed by law. Id. In addition, unless the offer states otherwise, there need not be conformity between the manner in which the offer is made and the manner in which it is accepted. Id.

*731 A contract is the law between the parties and must be made in good faith. La.C.C. art. 1983. It may only be dissolved through consent or by law. Id. A contract may be modified only by mutual consent. River Oaks, Inc. v. Blue Cross of Louisiana, 595 So.2d 785 (La.App. 5th Cir.1992). While modification can be presumed by silence, inaction, implication or one person may not change the terms unilaterally. River Oaks, Inc. v. Blue Cross of Louisiana, supra.

In this case, Wise gave Lapworth a proposal, bidding on the job for the Cheatham house, which stated, inter alia, "worker's compensation and public liability insurance on above work to be taken out by John Lapworth." He testified that it was customary in his business to submit a written proposal, have it orally accepted and begin work without receiving back either the proposal or a copy. Wise stated that happened in this case. After the proposal was submitted, the name "John Lapworth" was scratched out and the name "Robin Cheatham" was printed-in. The proposal contained other additions, in the same printing which differed from the other handwriting. A signature of "Robin B. Cheatham—owner" appears under the acceptance portion of the document.

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