Roussel v. Colonial Sugars Co.
| Decision Date | 05 September 1975 |
| Docket Number | No. 56002,56002 |
| Citation | 318 So.2d 37 |
| Parties | Inez ROUSSEL, widow of Ference Luquette v. COLONIAL SUGARS COMPANY (a subsidiary of Borden, Inc.) and Insurance Company of North America. |
| Court | Louisiana Supreme Court |
Richard L. Edrington, Carville & Edrington, Laplace, for plaintiff-applicant.
Ralph S. Johnson, Johnson & Riess, New Orleans, for defendants-respondents.
Plaintiff, Inez Roussel Luquette, filed this suit against Colonial Sugars Company and its workmen's compensation insurer, Insurance Company of North America, seeking to recover death benefits under the Louisiana Workmen's Compensation Act. The claim is based upon the death of plaintiff's husband, Ference Luquette, from a myocardial infarction which occurred during the course and scope of his employment as a machinist with defendant Colonial Sugars Company.
The trial court rendered judgment in favor of plaintiff and against defendants, awarding her $1,000.00 for burial expenses and the sum of $49.00 per week from July 31, 1972 for a period not to exceed 500 weeks, together with legal interest on each past-due installment until paid, and for all costs. The court of appeal reversed. La.App., 306 So.2d 771. We granted certiorari to review the correctness of this judgment. For reasons hereinafter set forth, we reverse and reinstate the judgment of the trial court.
Ference Luquette, age 63, was an employee of Colonial Sugars Company for 47 years. As a machinist in defendant's sugar refinery, Luquette and a fellow employee had been engaged in the dismantling of a pump weighing approximately 175 pounds for the three days prior to his death. On the morning of his death, July 31, 1972, decedent and his helper turned over half the pump (liquid end) which weighed about 75 pounds for the purpose of taking some measurements. Thereafter, decedent placed a steel shaft in a lathe, tightened it, and was making a bushing to be used on the pump. The shaft weighed about 2 or 3 pounds. At 2:00 p.m., decedent walked to a drill rack, a distance of some 20 feet from the lathe, where he collapsed and died of a fatal heart attack. Dr. Ward Turner, the plant physician who pronounced Luquette dead at 3:15 p.m., determined that death was instantaneous and was caused by a myocardial infarction with ventricular fibrillation. This condition is caused by arteriosclerosis, a process which develops over a period of years. 1
Dr. Turner was also decedent's treating physician. He testified that he first treated decedent in 1960 for hypertension (abnormal elevation of blood pressure). Over a period of six months, this treatment resulted in decedent's blood pressure being reduced within normal limits. Dr. Turner testified that a myocardial infarction could occur at any time and that he probably would not have approved a person in the deceased's physical condition for employment as a machinist in a pre-employment examination. He stated that a myocardial infarction could be brought on by being involved in strenuous activity. He further testified that strenous activity by a person in perfect health would not force him to go beyond his cardiac reserve. However, an individual with arteriosclerosis who exceeds his cardiac reserve by strenuous activity could precipitate a myocardial infarction.
The deposition of Dr. Melvyn F. Kossover was introduced into evidence. He stated that strenuous activity over a long period of time by a person in decedent's condition could be dangerous. He further stated that the activity of decedent as a machinist could be detrimental to a person of decedent's physical condition, as it would cause increased strain on the heart which could result in a myocardial infarction. Further, an increased stress in lifting a heavy object could also precipitate a myocardial infarction.
In order to recover death benefits under the Louisiana Workmen's Compensation Act, plaintiff must establish that her husband received a personal injury by accident arising out of and in the course of his employment. La.R.S. 23:1031. It is not only conceded...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Carruthers v. PPG Industries, Inc.
...of personal injury by accident. See, e.g., Guidry v. Sline Industrial Painters, Inc., 418 So.2d 626, 629 (La.1982); Roussel v. Colonial Sugars Co., 318 So.2d 37 (La.1975); Hemphill v. Tremont Lumber Co., 209 La. 885, 25 So.2d 625 (1946). It is also well-settled that an accident occurs in th......
-
Arrant v. Graphic Packaging Int'l, Inc.
...and customary actions, exertion, or other factors directly connected with the employment. 340 So.2d at 281 (citing Roussel v. Colonial Sugars Co., 318 So.2d 37 (La.1975) ). The Parks court went on to reason that it was “immaterial that the disability could have been brought on by causes oth......
-
Guidry v. Sline Indus. Painters, Inc.
...by accident. Fields v. Sperry Rand Corp., 343 So.2d 339 (La.App. 2d Cir.), cert. denied 345 So.2d 902 (La.1977); Roussel v. Colonial Sugars Co., 318 So.2d 37 (La.1975); Brown v. Kaiser Aluminum & Chem. Corp., 250 So.2d 99 (La.App. 4th Cir.), cert. denied 259 La. 807, 253 So.2d 66 (1971); He......
-
Pennington v. Reading and Bates Const. Co., 83-60
... ... 2nd Cir.), cert. denied 345 So.2d 902 (La.1977); Roussel v. Colonial Sugars Co., 318 So.2d 37 (La.1975); Brown v. Kaiser Aluminum & Chem. Corp., 250 So.2d ... ...