 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Hood v. Metro Industrial Corp.12/28/2001
Appellant seeks reversal of the judgment rendered by the Honorable Anthony P. Palermo, Office of Workers' Compensation Administration, District 5, finding the decedent's widow entitled to benefits under the Louisiana workers' compensation statute. For the following reasons, we affirm.
FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
This action arises from the death of 60-year-old, Clifton J. Hood, Jr. (Hood), who died as a result of a heart attack which occurred on September 21, 1998, while in a portable toilet enclosure or "port-o-let" on a Metro Industrial Corporation (Metro) job site. At the time of his death, Hood was working as a plumber for Metro, along with his son, David Hood, and his brother-in-law and Metro owner, Frank Basso.
The three-man plumbing crew had a deadline to install sewer/water lines at two houses scheduled for that day. Metro usually scheduled only one house per day; however, they were attempting to finish plumbing work on more homes in the month of September to meet a bonus incentive for their client, Jim Walter Homes. At the first scheduled house, the crew was unexpectedly required to dig a 25-foot trench to reroute the sewer line from the house to the city sewer line. The crew did not normally dig the trenches for the sewer lines, but at this house the original layout provided by their client was incorrect. It was a hot day (91 degrees), and the digging was particularly difficult because of oyster and clam shells in the ground. It took the crew about three hours to finish the job at the first house. They took turns digging with shovels and a pick, then they installed the line and recovered the trench.
The crew ate lunch while driving for about thirty minutes to the second job site scheduled for the day. They arrived at the second house around 1:00 p.m. Sometime before 3:00 p.m., Hood went into a port-o-let located on the job site at the second house. While in the port-o-let, Hood apparently suffered an acute heart attack. He was discovered unconscious and unresponsive in the port-o-let. An ambulance was called, and Hood was taken to the nearest hospital where he was pronounced dead from an acute myocardial infarction (heart attack). No autopsy was performed.
Hood's widow, Theresa B. Hood (appellee), filed a disputed claim for compensation after Metro refused to pay death benefits and funeral expenses related to Hood's death. Metro denied that Hood's death was work-related. A trial was held, and the workers' compensation judge (WCJ) rendered judgment in favor of appellee, ordering appellant, Metro, to pay death benefits of $117.00 per week, retroactive to the date of Hood's death, plus $5,000.00 for funeral expenses.
Metro appealed the judgment, arguing the WCJ erred in finding that Hood suffered a heart attack compensable under La. R.S. 23:1021(7)(e). Appellee answered the appeal, arguing the WCJ erred in failing to award attorney's fees and penalties for Metro's arbitrary and capricious refusal to pay surviving spouse death benefits and funeral expenses.
STANDARD OF REVIEW
The standard for reviewing workers' compensation cases was summarized by the Louisiana Supreme Court in Seal v. Gaylord Container Corp., 97-0688, pp. 4-5 (La. 12/02/97), 704 So.2d 1161, 1164, as follows:
Factual findings in workers' compensation cases are subject to the manifest error or clearly wrong standard of appellate review. In applying the manifest error-clearly wrong standard, the appellate court must determine not whether the trier of fact was right or wrong, but whether the factfinder's conclusion was a reasonable one. Where there are two permissible views of the evidence, a factfinder's choice between th
Page 1 2 3 4 5 Louisiana Personal Injury Attorneys
Personal Injury Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|