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Authement v. Wal-Mart9/26/2003
e's failure to award judicial interest. Moreover, Ms. Authement seeks an award of damages for what she claims is the filing of a frivolous appeal and attorney fees for defending same.
STANDARD OF REVIEW
Whether a claimant has carried her burden of proof and whether testimony is credible are questions of fact to be determined by the workers' compensation judge. Williams v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 2000-1347, p. 5 (La. App. 1 Cir. 9/28/01), 809 So.2d 294, 298. Factual findings in a workers' compensation case are subject to the manifest error standard of appellate review. Banks v. Industrial Roofing & Sheet Metal Works, Inc., 96-2840, p. 7 (La. 7/1/97), 696 So.2d 551, 556. As such, in order for an appellate court to reverse a workers' compensation judge's factual findings, it must find from the record that a reasonable factual basis does not exist for the findings of the workers' compensation judge and that the record establishes that the findings are clearly wrong. See Mart v. Hill, 505 So.2d 1120, 1127 (La. 1987). Furthermore, when factual findings are based on determinations regarding the credibility of witnesses, the manifest error 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 that bear so heavily on the listener's understanding and belief in what is said. Rosell v. ESCO, 549 So.2d 840, 844 (La. 1989).
WORK-RELATED ACCIDENT
In its first assignment of error, Wal-Mart contends the workers' compensation judge erred in finding that Ms. Authement suffered a work-related accident pursuant to La. R.S. 23:1021. Wal-Mart alleges that Ms. Authement neither provided a specific date of her alleged accident, nor identified a specific event that caused her injury . We disagree. 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." La. R.S. 23:1031. The applicable statutory definition of "accident" is "an unexpected or unforeseen actual, identifiable, precipitous event happening suddenly or violently, with or without human fault, and directly producing at the time objective findings of an injury which is more than simply a gradual deterioration or progressive degeneration." La. R.S. 23:1021(1). The fact that an employee does not notify her employer immediately that she suffered an accident, or does so several days after the date of the alleged injury, does not prohibit a finding that the employee sustained an accident. Haws v. Professional Sewer Rehabilitation, Inc., 98-2846, p. 5 (La. App. 1 Cir. 2/18/00), 763 So.2d 683, 688.
Moreover, an employee should not be barred from recovery because she did not realize or diagnose the full extent of her injury immediately after it happened. Haws, 98-2846 at 6, 763 So.2d at 688.
Louisiana courts have consistently interpreted the work-related accident requirement liberally. Bruno v. Harbert International Inc., 593 So.2d 357, 360 (La. 1992). 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 pre-existing condition." Id. (citing Cutno v. Neeb Kearney & Co., 237 La. 828, 112 So.2d 628, 631 (1959)).
The determination of whether an accident occurred is to be construed from the worker's perspective. Notably, however, the claimant's burden of proof is not relaxed, for she must still establish a work-related accident by a preponderance of the evidence. Haws, 98-2846 at 6, 763 So.2d at 688. A worker's testimony alone may be sufficie
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