Roszell v. National Union Fire Ins. Co.

• Decision Date: 17 June 1992
• Docket Number: No. 90-900,90-900
• Citation: 602 So.2d 87
• Parties: Charles ROSZELL, Jr., Plaintiff-Appellee, v. NATIONAL UNION FIRE INS. CO., et al., Defendants-Appellants. 602 So.2d 87
• Court: Court of Appeal of Louisiana — District of US

Page 87

602 So.2d 87

Charles ROSZELL, Jr., Plaintiff-Appellee, v. NATIONAL UNION FIRE INS. CO., et al Defendants-Appellants.

No. 90-900.

602 So.2d 87

Court of Appeal of Louisiana Third Circuit.

June 17, 1992.

Writ Denied Oct. 30, 1992.

Charles A. Riddle, Marksville, for plaintiff-appellee.

Gold, Weems, Bruser, Sues & Rundell, Dee D. Drell, Alexandria, for defendants-appellants.

Before DOUCET, YELVERTON and KNOLL, JJ., and HOOD ^* and MARCANTEL, ^** JJ. Pro Tem.

KNOLL, Judge.

The resolution of this worker's compensation case on appeal turns on the trial court's initial determination that Charles Roszell, Jr. proved by a preponderance of the evidence that he suffered a work-related accident while he worked as a roughneck for Butler-Johnson, Inc. The trial court found that Roszell carried his burden of proof, and awarded Roszell temporary total benefits from August 28, 1987, to October 1, 1988, together with supplemental earnings benefits thereafter in accordance with LSA-R.S. 23:1221(3). After considering the closeness of the issues presented, the trial court denied Roszell's claim for penalties and attorney's fees.

Butler-Johnson and National Union appeal. Although they enumerate six assignments of error, all of them hinge on their assertion that the trial court erred in finding that Roszell suffered a work-related accident.

Roszell answered the appeal, contending that the trial court erroneously calculated his supplemental earnings benefits.

FACTS

The learned trial court provided excellent written reasons for judgment detailing the facts of this case which we adopt herein:

"Plaintiff, Charles Roszell, worked for Butler-Johnson, Inc. intermittently for several years prior to July, 1987. After a period of lay off [sic], he returned to work on July 1, 1987 and began duties as a roughneck on a drilling rig near Buffalo, Texas. His first full day of work was July 2. On July 3 there were only two roughnecks on the platform 'tripping pipe' although the job was usually done by three. The plaintiff was one of the two roughnecks and the other was described as being inexperienced. Consequently, the plaintiff described his work that day as unusually difficult and strenuous and the weather was very hot. The plaintiff had not been engaged in heavy work during his lay off [sic] and that made the work even more difficult. He testified that he began feeling sick about noon on July 3 and vomited several times but continued working until about 4:00 p.m. when the driller told him to stop working. The driller offered to take him to a doctor but plaintiff told him he thought he would get better. He lay down in the 'dog house.' At about 10:30 p.m., he had not improved so he was driven back to the house trailer where the crew lived, a distance of about twenty miles. His condition did not improve and on July 4 he was taken to Leon Memorial Hospital in Buffalo, Texas. His condition was diagnosed as either heat exhaustion or infectious gastroenteritis. The next day, July 5, he was transferred to Navarro Regional Hospital at Corsicana, Texas. At that hospital, the diagnosis was viral gastroenteritis. He remained at that hospital for three days and at his request, he was transferred to St. Frances Cabrini Hospital in Alexandria, Louisiana in order to be nearer his home. The diagnosis at Cabrini Hospital was also viral gastroenteritis. The plaintiff's condition improved but he began suffering a severe headache and neck and back pain. He was discharged from Cabrini Hospital on July 15 and continued outpatient treatment by several physicians after that time.

The defendant paid weekly benefits of $205.33 from July 3, 1987 until August 28, 1987. It is the defendants' position that payments were made under the belief that the plaintiff suffered heat exhaustion on the job and that benefits were terminated when the diagnosis of heat exhaustion was not confirmed. The defendants further contend that the plaintiff did not suffer an accident which was work-related. It is plaintiff's position that he suffered an injury which caused the neck and back pain and that he was totally disabled as a result. After the defendants terminated benefits, this action was filed."

MANIFEST ERROR

Butler-Johnson and National Union contend that the trial court was manifestly erroneous in finding that Roszell proved that he suffered a work-related accident.

Concerning this very issue, our Supreme Court recently reversed this court in the case of Bruno v. Harbert Intern. Inc., 593 So.2d 357 (La.1992), and reinstated the trial court's findings of an accident. In so doing, the Supreme Court stated at pages 360-361:

"As a threshold requirement, a worker in a compensation action must establish 'personal injury by accident arising out of and in the course of his employment.' LSA-R.S. 23:1031 (emphasis supplied). The applicable statutory definition of 'accident' is 'an unexpected or unforeseen event happening suddenly or violently, with or without human fault, and producing at the time objective symptoms of an injury.' LSA-R.S. 23:1021(1). While that definition was amended after the occurrence of the accident involved in this case, the governing law in a compensation action is that which was in effect at the time of the alleged injury. Nelson v. Roadway Express, Inc., 588 So.2d 350 (La.1991).

Louisiana courts consistently have interpreted the work-related accident requirement liberally. Williams v. Regional Transit Authority, 546 So.2d 150, 156 (La.1989). Indeed, it is well-settled in Louisiana that an 'accident' exists when 'heavy lifting or other strenuous efforts, although usual and customary, cause or contribute to a physical breakdown or accelerate its occurrence because of a preexisting condition.' Cutno v. Neeb Kearney & Co., 237 La. 828, 112 So.2d 628, 631 (1959); Nelson, supra (collecting cases). Moreover, Louisiana courts view the question of whether there was an accident from the worker's perspective. Williams, supra.

Despite the liberal construction of the statute afforded the worker in a compensation action, the worker's burden of proof is not relaxed. Prim v. City of Shreveport, 297 So.2d 421 (La.1974). Rather, as in other civil actions, the plaintiff-worker in a compensation action has the burden of establishing a work-related accident by a preponderance of the evidence. Id.; Nelson, supra. A worker's testimony alone may be sufficient to discharge this burden of proof, provided two elements are satisfied: (1) no other evidence discredits or casts serious doubt upon the worker's version of the incident; and (2) the worker's testimony is corroborated by the circumstances following the alleged incident. West v. Bayou Vista Manor, Inc., 371 So.2d 1146 (La.1979); Malone and Johnson, 13 Louisiana Civil Law Treatise, Workers' Compensation, Section 253 (2d Ed.1980). Corroboration of the worker's testimony may be provided by the testimony of fellow workers, spouses or friends. Malone & Johnson, supra; Nelson, supra. Corroboration may also be provided by medical evidence. West, supra.

In determining whether the worker has discharged his or her burden of proof, the trial court should accept as true a witness's uncontradicted testimony, although the witness is a party, absent 'circumstances casting suspicion on the reliability of this testimony.' West, 371 So.2d at 1147; Holiday v. Borden Chemical, 508 So.2d 1381, 1383 (La.1987). The trial court's determinations as to whether the worker's testimony is credible and whether the worker has discharged his or her burden of proof are factual determinations not to be disturbed on review unless clearly wrong or absent a showing of manifest error. Gonzales v. Babco Farms, Inc., 535 So.2d 822, 824 (La.App.2d Cir.), writ denied, 536 So.2d 1200 (La.1988) (collecting cases). Indeed, the manifest error/clearly wrong standard of appellate review applies in compensation actions even when the trial court's decision is based solely upon written reports, records or depositions. Virgil v. American Guarantee and Liability Insurance Co., 507 So.2d 825 (La.1987).

Attempting to give meaning to the nebulous terms 'clearly wrong' and 'manifest error,' we recently enunciated the following general principles that govern an appellate court's power to reverse a trial court's factual findings:

'When findings are based on determinations regarding the credibility of witnesses, the manifest error-clearly wrong standard demands great deference to the trier of fact's findings; for only the fact-finder can be aware of the variations in demeanor and tone of voice that bear so heavily on the listener's understanding and belief in what is said. Where documents or objective evidence so contradict the witness's story, or the story itself is so internally inconsistent or implausible on its face that a reasonable fact finder would not credit the witness's story, the court of appeal may well find manifest error or clear wrongness even in a finding purportedly based upon a credibility determination. But where such factors are not present, and a fact-finder's finding is based on its decision to credit the testimony of one of two or more witnesses, that finding can virtually never be manifestly erroneous or clearly wrong.'

Rosell v. Esco, 549 So.2d 840, 844-45 (La.1989) (citations omitted and emphasis supplied).

As reflected by the underscored language above, in Rosell, supra, we identified two factors that limit the deference due the trier of fact. In West, supra, we identified a third factor especially apt in compensation actions: 'the appellate court is not required by [the manifest error/clearly wrong] principle to affirm the trier of fact's refusal to accept as credible uncontradicted testimony ... where the record indicates no sound reason for its rejection and where the factual finding itself has been reached by overlooking applicable legal principles.' West, 371 So.2d at 1150; See Thomas v. RPM Corp., 449 So.2d 18, 21 (La.App. 1st Cir.), writ...