Cadiere v. West Gibson Products Co., Inc.

• Decision Date: 13 November 1978
• Docket Number: No. 62050,62050
• Citation: 364 So.2d 998
• Parties: Paula Fletcher CADIERE v. WEST GIBSON PRODUCTS COMPANY, INC., d/b/a West Brothers Gibson Discount Center and Morrison's Assurance Company.
• Court: Louisiana Supreme Court

Page 998

364 So.2d 998

Paula Fletcher CADIERE v. WEST GIBSON PRODUCTS COMPANY, INC., d/b/a West Brothers Gibson Discount Center and Morrison's Assurance Company.

No. 62050.

Supreme Court of Louisiana.

Nov. 13, 1978.

Rehearing Denied Dec. 14, 1978.

Stephen M. LaRussa, Gaidry & LaRussa, Houma, for plaintiff-applicant.

Larry P. Boudreaux, Thibodaux, for defendants-respondents.

DIXON, Justice.

Paula Fletcher Cadiere was employed as a salesperson at West Brothers Gibson Discount Center in Houma, Louisiana. On October 4, 1974 Ms. Cadiere was injured when the mannequin she was dressing fell and struck her in the head, causing her to jerk backwards. After reporting the incident to her employer, she immediately sought medical attention from Dr. Richard Haydel and complained to him of headache and nausea. Dr. Haydel prescribed an analgesic for her and she remained at home on the next two work days, Friday and Saturday, and on the following Monday. Ten weeks later, on Christmas Eve, pains in Ms. Cadiere's back became so intense that she was taken to the emergency room at Terrebonne General Hospital. Her symptoms of back and leg pain were diagnosed as attributable to a ruptured disc, and a myelogram confirmed this opinion, revealing a defect at the L5 level on the right side below the L4-5 inner space, and another defect at the L5-S1 level. In March, 1975, an orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Dexter Gary performed a two-level laminectomy at both L4-5 and L5-S1 levels. The operation proved initially successful, but within a few months Ms. Cadiere began to suffer back and leg pains once again. After unsuccessful recourse to physical therapy, interspersed with psychiatric consultation, she underwent a second operation at Chalmette General Hospital by a Dr. Llewelyn.

On September 25, 1975 Ms. Cadiere filed suit for workmen's compensation benefits seeking total and permanent disability benefits. The trial judge rendered judgment in the plaintiff's favor, concluding that she was totally and permanently disabled. This judgment was appealed, and on February 13, 1978 the Court of Appeal reversed the trial court in an unpublished opinion. Writs were applied for by plaintiff and were granted on May 5, 1978. 357 So.2d 1160 (La.). We reverse.

The employee in a workmen's compensation action must establish by a preponderance of the evidence that he received a personal injury arising out of and in the course of his employment and that a causal relationship exists between his disability and that accident. Parks v. Insurance Company of North America, 340 So.2d 276 (La.1976); Blazier v. Georgia-Pacific Corp., 301 So.2d 701 (3d Cir. La.App.1974). However, the burden of proof shifts to the defendant once the plaintiff shows that the accident and injury are causally connected without an intervening cause. Haughton v. Fireman's Fund American Insurance Companies, 355 So.2d 927 (La.1978).

At trial the plaintiff testified that she was hit on the head by the mannequin, an incident within the statutory definition of accident, R.S. 23:1021. The existence of the injury is well documented in the record and is not in dispute. Ms. Cadiere's testimony that the accident caused the injury is supported by the expert testimony of Dr. Gary who, in response to hypothetical questions, gave the opinion that a sudden jerking of the back could account for serious disc trouble at a later date. In further support of her contention, the plaintiff introduced the testimony of her relatives, and especially her grandmother with whom she lived, that she complained of back pains at frequent intervals after the October 4, 1974 accident.

The reviewing court must give great weight to the factual conclusions arrived at by the trier of fact, and reasonable evaluations of credibility and reasonable inferences of fact should not be disturbed even though the appellate court may feel that its own evaluations and inferences are as reasonable. Aleman v. Lionel F. Favret Co., Inc., 349 So.2d 262 (La.1977); Canter v. Koehring Co., 283 So.2d 716 (La.1973). "The reason for this well-settled principle of review is...