Gilbert v. Bituminous Cas. Corp.
| Decision Date | 21 March 1977 |
| Docket Number | No. 13167,13167 |
| Citation | 344 So.2d 86 |
| Parties | John Horace GILBERT, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. BITUMINOUS CASUALTY CORPORATION, Defendant-Appellee. |
| Court | Court of Appeal of Louisiana — District of US |
Campbell, Campbell & Johnson by Cecil P. Campbell, Minden, for plaintiff-appellant.
Blanchard, Walker, O'Quin & Roberts by Jerald L. Perlman, Shreveport, for defendant-appellee.
Before PRICE, HALL and JONES, JJ.
The issue in this workmen's compensation proceeding is whether the rupture of an aneurysm was causally related to the claimant's employment entitling him to benefits for a total and permanent disability and related medical expenses.
Bituminous Casualty Corporation is the compensation insurer of Ascot Oils, Inc., the employer of John Horace Gilbert.
The factual background and the issues in dispute are concisely and accurately stated by the trial judge in his reasons for judgment as follows:
. . . The plaintiff was a 'land man' and for several weeks prior to the accident hereinafter described was in the process of acquiring a block of oil and gas leases for his employer. In his employment he drove his automobile several hundred miles each week, examined records in various courthouses to determine availability of property for mineral leasing, contacted land owners, negotiated for leases, and in general did the work customarily done by land men in this area.
The evidence shows that plaintiff had for some time suffered from arteriosclerosis and that an aneurysm had formed upon his abdominal aorta.
On the day of the accident, November 29, 1971, he had driven a number of miles in North Louisiana and South Arkansas and while returning from El Dorado to his home in Minden, his car left the road and struck a tree and he was seriously injured.
It was later determined that in the accident plaintiff sustained a fracture of the first lumbar vertebra and he was paid compensation for 114 weeks until his doctor reported that he was able to return to his work. Additionally, all medical expenses in connection with the back injury have been paid.
This lawsuit, however, is not really concerned with the back injury. When plaintiff was examined by Dr. S. W. Pittman immediately after the accident, it was determined that he was suffering from a ruptured aneurysm which, as mentioned above, had previously formed upon his aorta. His condition was critical because of this rupture and as a matter of fact the fractured vertebra was not even detected. He was taken to Schumpert Hospital in Shreveport where Dr. Wallace Brown repaired the ruptured aneurysm . Plaintiff recovered from this surgery and only after his release from the hospital did he see an orthopedic specialist and receive treatment for the back injury.
While the defendant paid all medical expenses relating to the back injury and workmen's compensation benefits during his disability attributed to that injury, it refused to pay the considerable medical expenses incurred as a result of the ruptured aneurysm. Plaintiff brought suit initially to recover for these expenses and later amended his suit asking for workmen's compensation after the defendant terminated the payments when his doctor reported him recovered.
The real dispute in this case is whether the plaintiff's work related activities caused or contributed to the rupture of the aneurysm. If the aneurysm was ruptured in the accident, or if there is a causal connection between the ruptured aneurysm and his work, then the plaintiff should be successful in this lawsuit. On the other hand, if the aneurysm was not ruptured in the accident and no causal connection is shown, then his demands should be rejected.
The trial court rejected Gilbert's demands. It found that a preponderance of the medical testimony showed the aneurysm ruptured prior to the accident, and that the medical evidence did not establish a causal relation between Gilbert's work and the rupture.
The judgment is reversed, and plaintiff is awarded benefits for a total and permanent disability and additional medical expenses for the following reasons.
An employee is entitled to compensation benefits for disability resulting from personal injury from an accident arising out of and in the course of his employment. La.R.S. 23:1031. The rupture of an aneurysm is an 'injury by accident' within the meaning of the statute. Francis v. Gerlach Meat Company, Inc., 319 So.2d 534 (La.App.2nd Cir. 1975). There is no dispute that the injury in this instance occurred within the course of plaintiff's employment. The difficult problem is the determination of whether the injury was caused by the employment.
The causal relationship may be inferred when...
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