Fontenot v. Travelers Ins. Co.

• Court: Court of Appeal of Louisiana
• Writing for the Court: HOOD
• Citation: Fontenot v. Travelers Ins. Co., 179 So.2d 520 (La. App. 1965)
• Decision Date: 27 October 1965
• Docket Number: No. 1526,1526
• Parties: Helena FONTENOT, Plaintiff and Appellee, v. The TRAVELERS INSURANCE COMPANY and Lester Vidrine, Defendants and Appellants.

Page 520

179 So.2d 520

Helena FONTENOT, Plaintiff and Appellee, v. The TRAVELERS INSURANCE COMPANY and Lester Vidrine Defendants and Appellants.

No. 1526.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Third Circuit.

Oct. 27, 1965.

Rehearing Denied Nov. 17, 1965.

Dubuisson & Dubuisson, by James T. Guglielmo, Opelousas, for defendant-appellant.

Joseph E. Coreil, Ville Platte, for plaintiff-appellee.

Tate & Tate, by Paul C. Tate, Mamou, for defendant-appellee.

Before TATE, SAVOY and HOOD, JJ.

HOOD, Judge.

This is a tort action instituted by Miss Helena Fontenot against The Travelers Insurance Company and Lester Vidrine. It is a companion to the case of Hebert v. Travelers Insurance Company, 179 So.2d 513, which is being decided by us on this date.

For the reasons assigned in that case, we conclude that the judgment appealed from here should be amended to condemn both of the defendants, in solido, to pay the damages sustained by plaintiff, and that the third party defendant, Lester Vidrine, should be condemned to contribute one-half the amount awarded to plaintiff.

The trial judge awarded Miss Fontenot the sum of $500.00 for pain and suffering, and the additional sum of $605.90 for hospital and medical expenses. The plaintiff-appellant argues that the award for pain and suffering should be increased, and the defendant-appellant contends that the case should be remanded for evidence tending to show that the award for medical and hospital expenses is excessive.

Miss Fontenot was treated by Dr. R. E. Dupre, for slightly more than one month after the accident occurred. This physician stated that she had 'multiple contusions of the entire left shoulder, muscle strain of the left shoulder and left arm, forearm, wrist and hand, and sprain of the left wrist and muscle strain of the left leg from foot to the groin and lumbosacral strain, pain in the back.' She was hospitalized by Dr. Dupre, for a period of about one week, beginning on the day of the accident, and again for a four-day period about one month later. With reference to this last period of hospitalization, Dr. Dupre explains that 'she just wanted further treatment, she was not getting along well, we hospitalized her.' She apparently was ambulatory while in the hospital, and her treatment consisted of microwave therapy, diathermy, rest and medicine. She states that she still has pains in her back and shoulder and that she is nervous, but she apparently has sought no medical treatment for that condition since Dr. Dupre discontinued treating her, and her statements are not support by any other evidence.

We are convinced, as the trial judge apparently was, that the...