Losabia v. Cypress Hosp.
| Decision Date | 02 June 1993 |
| Docket Number | No. 92-1105,92-1105 |
| Citation | 619 So.2d 151 |
| Parties | Milagros LOSABIA, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. CYPRESS HOSPITAL, et al., Defendants-Appellants. |
| Court | Court of Appeal of Louisiana — District of US |
William Howard Goforth, Lafayette, for Milagros Losabia.
John P. Aydell, Jr., A. Edward Hardin, Baton Rouge, for Cypress Hosp., et al.
Before LABORDE, THIBODEAUX and DECUIR, JJ.
The defendant-employer, Louisiana Psychiatric Company, Inc., d/b/a Cypress Hospital (LPCI) appeals a workers' compensation administrative hearing officer's denial of a motion to vacate a default judgment obtained by plaintiff, Milagros Losabia. Its appeal is predicated on insufficiency of service of process which nullifies the judgment. For the following reasons, we affirm.
Milagros Losabia was injured on October 3, 1990, while employed at Cypress Hospital, Lafayette, Louisiana, as a registered nurse. A claim for workers' compensation benefits was filed on July 18, 1991. Cypress Hospital paid only a portion of her medical expenses and she was later terminated by the hospital due to her inability to perform her job. A preliminary default judgment was rendered on November 27, 1991. A judgment confirming the default was rendered in favor of Ms. Losabia, the claimant, and against Cypress Hospital and ABC Insurance Company on December 11, 1991. The judgment was read and signed on January 30, 1992, by the administrative hearing officer.
On June 11, 1991, Cypress Hospital filed the Employers' Report of Occupation Injury and Disease and identified itself as "Cypress Hospital" in the section requesting the name of the employer. The petition for workers' compensation and a Disputed Claim for Compensation were mailed to the Office of Workers' Compensation by certified mail on July 16, 1991. Service was made on Cypress Hospital as the "Employer" by certified mail on August 6, 1991. The name and address were as follows:
Cypress Hospital
302 Dulles Drive
After several requests by claimant's attorney to Cypress Hospital and its attorney to respond to the petition, and upon Cypress Hospital's failure to respond, the preliminary default was confirmed.
Thereafter, Cypress Hospital filed a motion to vacate the judgment, claiming insufficient notice of the claim. The motion was based upon the fact that "Cypress Hospital" was a trade name and had no legal existence. The claim should have been directed to Louisiana Psychiatric Company, Inc. (LPCI) which does business under the name "Cypress Hospital." Moreover, the defendant-employer argued that it has a registered agent for service of process, C.T. Corporation System located in New Orleans, Louisiana, upon which service of process should have been made.
The hearing officer denied the motion to vacate the confirmation of the preliminary default and the denial was signed on April 21, 1992. It is from this judgment that LPCI, d/b/a Cypress Hospital, appeals and asserts one assignment of error: the hearing officer erred in denying the motion to vacate the judgment by default.
The plaintiff contends that the plain language of the workers' compensation laws allow service to be made upon Cypress Hospital by certified mail and does not require the claimant to know the employer's legal name or its registered agent for service of process. To do so would place too great a burden on the average lay person involved in a workers' compensation dispute. Accordingly, Ms. Losabia argues, since the statute does not refer to corporations, partnerships, or registered agents for service of process, the clear language of the statute simply requires that an employee have a copy of the claim sent by certified mail to the employer. We agree.
Clearly, the statute allows the director to serve the defendant in a workers' compensation claim by certified mail. LPCI contends that this is inconsistent with the Code of Civil Procedure which provides for personal service upon a corporation. However, LSA-C.C.P. art. 1313 allows service of process by mail where an express provision of law allows mail service. Such a provision is contained in the first sentence of LSA-R.S. 23:1310.3(B). Moreover, the workers' compensation statutory framework is a specific body of written law which supersedes the Code of Civil Procedure provision for service of process on employer defendants. See, Demolle v. Dept. of Wildlife & Fisheries, 580 So.2d 1083, 1084 (La.App. 4th Cir.1991), writ denied, 586 So.2d 534 (La.1991). See also, Hayden v. Richland Parish School Board, 554 So.2d 164, 167 (La.App. 2d Cir.1989), writ denied, 559 So.2d 124 (La.1990). LSA-R.S. 23:1310.3 is an express provision of law which allows the Director to serve the claim form by certified mail, this argument has no merit.
Our inquiry now is whether service of process was proper when service was made upon the pharmacist, who is employed at Cypress Hospital in Lafayette, as opposed to the LPCI-Cypress Hospital's registered agent for service of process in New Orleans. In other words, did the Director serve the proper person?
The legislature is presumed to have enacted each statute with deliberate and full knowledge of all existing laws on the same subject. A particular statutory provision should be construed, not only along with the remainder of the statute, but with all laws on the same subject matter. Laws in pari materia, or upon the same subject matter, must be construed with reference to each other. Further, what is clear in one provision may be used as an aid to explain what is doubtful in another. Juneau v. Avoyelles Parish Police Jury, 482 So.2d 1022, 1033 (La.App. 3d Cir.1986). It is presumed that every word, sentence, or provision in law was intended to serve some useful purpose, that some effect is to be given to each such provision, and that no unnecessary words or provisions were used. Courts have the duty to interpret laws as legislated and, when possible, to honor the clear meaning of a statute as revealed by its language, purpose and history. Sanchez v. Sanchez, 582 So.2d 978, 979-980 (La.App. 1st Cir.1991).
The statutory and jurisprudential history of the workers' compensation laws reveals a clear willingness by our courts and legislature to construe its provisions liberally. The mere fact that proceedings in workers' compensation are not subject to the technical rules of evidence and procedure signifies its salutary nature as to employees injured at...
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