Bateman v. Power Rig Rental Tool Co.

• Decision Date: 25 July 1984
• Docket Number: No. 83-79,83-79
• Citation: 453 So.2d 998
• Court: Court of Appeal of Louisiana — District of US
• Parties: Dewayne L. BATEMAN, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. POWER RIG RENTAL TOOL COMPANY & Power Rig Drilling Company, Inc., Defendants- Appellees. 453 So.2d 998

Page 998

453 So.2d 998

Dewayne L. BATEMAN, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. POWER RIG RENTAL TOOL COMPANY & Power Rig Drilling Company Inc., Defendants- Appellees.

No. 83-79.

453 So.2d 998

Court of Appeal of Louisiana Third Circuit.

July 25, 1984.

Jordan & Spring, Ltd., J. Max Jordan, Jr., Lafayette, for plaintiff-appellant.

Davidson, Meaux, Sonnier, & McElligott, John G. Swift and J.J. Davidson, III, Lafayette, for defendants-appellees.

Before GUIDRY, CUTRER and STOKER, JJ.

CUTRER, Judge.

This appeal in a workmen's compensation suit emanates from a trial court judgment in favor of the defendants/employers, rejecting the claim of plaintiff/employee for compensation benefits. The plaintiff, Dewayne L. Bateman, sought permanent total disability benefits, including penalties and attorney's fees, from his employers, Power Rig Rental Tool Company and Power Rig Drilling Company, Inc. (hereinafter both are referred to as "Power Rig").

The plaintiff appeals, requesting a reversal of the trial court judgment and an award for temporary total disability "for a period of fifty-two (52) weeks post-accident ...." Also, the plaintiff reurges herein his request for penalties and attorney's fees under LSA-R.S. 23:1201.2. For the reasons to follow, we affirm.

FACTS

The plaintiff, Bateman, had been employed by Power Rig in Lafayette for approximately ten months when he was injured on June 21, 1982. Bateman was classified as a "slab hand," and his duties entailed cleaning and repairing equipment for rental. The injury occurred while Bateman was testing some valves he had recently repaired. During the testing of one of these valves, Bateman was struck on the left side of his face and eye by a heavy slug of industrial grease emitted from the air-pressurized valve. According to Bateman, he was not rendered unconscious by this incident, but he was dazed for several seconds.

Upon reporting the occurrence to his superiors, Bateman was taken to a local opthamologist, Dr. Barry Bohn, who cleaned and treated the injured eye. Dr. Bohn observed a scratch on the cornea of Bateman's left eye and also a secondary irritation inside the eye, termed "iritis." Bateman was treated by this physician on June 21st with antibiotics, pain medicine (Tylenol No. 3) and dilating drops. Those items were also prescribed by Dr. Bohn for Bateman's continued use. Power Rig began paying Bateman weekly compensation benefits of $183.00 per week. Bateman's medical expenses were also paid.

In the period between June 21st and July 5th, Dr. Bohn examined Bateman five times. During this time Bateman complained of incessant headaches which were not relieved by the pain medication. For several days after the initial accident, Bateman had not used any of the dilating drops which had been prescribed by Dr. Bohn to alleviate pain. On June 28th, Dr. Bohn's examination revealed that the cornea had healed, that the iritis had disappeared, and that the eye appeared normal; only Bateman's complaints of headaches remained. Bateman concedes that his vision returned to normal following Dr. Bohn's treatments.

Dr. Bohn could not determine any physical reason for Bateman's continued complaints of headaches. Dr. Bohn referred Bateman to a neurologist, Dr. Steven Snatic.

Dr. Snatic examined Bateman on three occasions between July 14th and July 30th, during which time Bateman complained of nearly constant severe headaches. According to the history provided by Bateman, he had no prior history of headaches. A neurological examination was conducted on July 14th, which revealed no abnormalities.

After examining Bateman initially, Dr. Snatic opined that the headaches were caused by "muscular tension in the jaws, neck and scalp." The physician believed this could probably be related to the June 21st incident, but he expected a complete recovery within "a few weeks or a month or so." Physical therapy and pain medication were prescribed by Dr. Snatic. Bateman said that the therapy relaxed him somewhat but that the relief was only temporary.

When Bateman returned for a second visit to Dr. Snatic, his headache complaints remained, and he was given another type of pain medication. Further, an EEG and a CT brain scan were performed, each indicating normal results. More medications and a change in the prescription were ordered by Dr. Snatic following Bateman's continued complaints of headache pain.

Dr. Snatic stated that Bateman's problems appeared to stem from an emotional reaction to his injury and were not related to any organic damage to the body or nervous system. He further noted that Bateman appeared to be abusing his medication, causing Dr. Snatic to suspect the possibility of "severe drug abuse in the future." Dr. Snatic could not say whether Bateman actually did have the headaches of which he complained, and he stated that it was possible that Bateman was "malingering."

It was Dr. Snatic's opinion that Bateman was not disabled for neurological reasons. He suggested psychiatric and psychological examinations and stated that he would defer to the psychiatrist's opinion. Dr. Snatic continued to prescribe medication for Bateman via telephone until August 23, 1982.

Upon receiving Dr. Snatic's suggestion that his problems might be psychological rather than physical, Bateman told Dr. Snatic's office nurse that he would not see a psychiatrist or a psychologist; he remarked that he would get "a lawyer to take care of his problem." The results of Dr. Snatic's examination and his opinion that Bateman should see another physician if he continued to abuse his medication and persisted in refusing psychological evaluations were sent to Bateman's employer, Power Rig. Upon the basis of this report Power Rig ceased the weekly compensation payments of $183.00 to Bateman, who was paid through August 2, 1982.

Power Rig's claim manager, Denny Wilson, testified that all of Bateman's medical bills submitted for payment by Power Rig were paid. Wilson further testified that he received no further communications from Bateman following Power Rig's decision to cease compensation benefits. Evidence presented by the defense at trial reflects that Power Rig did pay all of the plaintiff's medical expenses connected with Drs. Bohn and Snatic, medication, EEG and CT scan, travel and physical therapy.

Contrary to his statements to Dr. Snatic's nurse, Bateman, on August 2, 1982, did visit the psychiatrist recommended by Dr. Snatic, Dr. Robert L. Turner. Following his examination, Dr. Turner opined that Bateman could return to work and that his most likely diagnosis was malingering. Dr. Turner, accepted as an expert in psychiatry by the trial court, testified that Bateman's problems did not fit into the category of a "post-traumatic stress disorder;" nor did Dr. Turner believe that Bateman had a psychological factor affecting a physical condition.

On August 3, 1982, Bateman was seen by Dr. F.T. Friedberg, a clinical psychologist, who administered a battery of psychological tests to Bateman. Dr. Friedberg noted slurred speech by Bateman, which was indicative to him of an abuse of medication. Dr. Friedberg also observed that the patient was "tangential in his thinking," exhibited anxiety and appeared to be "speeding." During this examination, Bateman verbalized a significant amount of headache pain. Dr. Friedberg diagnosed Bateman as having a "hypochondriacal disorder where we have emotional factors interfering or associated with pain ...."

It was Dr. Friedberg's opinion that Bateman's problems were emotional, not organic, and that he would be a poor candidate for psychological therapy, because of Bateman's poor motivation. However, Dr. Friedberg stated that he could not make a definite diagnosis of plaintiff without a full detailed background on Bateman's history of emotional behavior, which was not made available. Although he stated that he did not believe that Bateman should return to any work situation with his present complaints of headaches, Dr. Friedberg admitted that he could not make a valid diagnosis as to the relationship of Bateman's emotional status to any particular event or period in the plaintiff's history.

A close friend of and former co-worker with Bateman testified that the latter complained frequently of headaches and that his "anxiety is more prominent now than it was then." Another employee at Power Rig, Charles Oge, testified that, prior to his injury, Bateman had experienced various personal problems with a girlfriend with whom he lived. The co-employee had overheard various telephone calls wherein Bateman exhibited strong anger concerning certain acts by his girlfriend. Following one of these calls, Bateman had even threatened physical violence against the girl.

Suit was filed by Bateman on September 23, 1982. An exception of prematurity was filed by the defendants, but the disposition of the exception is not revealed in the record before us. The trial court has favored us with a concise recitation of his reasons for ruling:

"The Court finds the following facts to have been proven:

(1) The Plaintiff has no physical disability which can be attributed to the accident.

(2) As of the time that Defendant...