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Seitz v. Scofield2/26/2002
ads until she could see her family doctor. After about one week, she developed discomfort in her left leg as well as numbness in her left foot.
On June 9, 1999, she visited her family physician, Dr. Russ, who prescribed medication and therapeutic exercises. When Seitz did not experience relief, her family doctor ordered an MRI and referred her to a neurosurgeon, Dr. Lucien Miranne. On July 2, 1999, Dr. Miranne examined Seitz as well as films of her MRI, diagnosed a herniated L5-S1 disk and recommended surgery.
On September 22, 1999, Donna Seitz filed suit against Jean Scofield alleging that Scofield had injured Seitz's shoulder and back when Scofield struck Seitz with Scofield's grandchild's backpack on May 28, 1999. On December 14, 1999, Dr. Miranne performed a lumbar microdiskectomy on Seitz. Dr. Miranne testified that a herniated disk can be caused by pressure on the disk created by a pulling or twisting motion or a push from behind.
On May 2, 2001, after a three-day trial, the jury returned a verdict, by a vote of 9-3, that Scofield was negligent but that her negligence was not the proximate cause of Seitz's injuries. Because the jury did not find that Scofield's negligence caused Seitz's injury , it awarded no damages to Seitz. On May 21, 2001, the trial court rendered judgment in accord with the jury's verdict.
On May 25, 2001, Seitz moved for judgment notwithstanding the verdict or, in the alternative, for new trial. On July 12, 2001, the trial court denied both motions. Seitz now appeals both the original judgment and the judgment denying her post-trial motions.
In her appellate brief, Seitz asserts four assignments of error: the jury erred in failing to apply Housley v. Cerise after being properly instructed by the trial judge; the jury erred in failing to award damages; the trial judge erred in failing to grant a judgment notwithstanding the verdict; and the trial judge erred in failing to grant a new trial. The central issue presented on appeal is whether the jury's finding that Scofield's negligence was not the proximate cause of Seitz's injuries was clearly wrong.
In her first assignment of error, Seitz contends that the jury was clearly wrong in failing to apply the principle set forth in Housley v. Cerise, 579 So.2d 973, 980 (La. 1991). In Housley v. Cerise, the Louisiana Supreme Court, citing Lukas v. Insurance Company of North America, 342 So.2d 591 (La.1977), stated:
claimant's disability is presumed to have resulted from an accident, if before the accident the injured person was in good health, but commencing with the accident the symptoms of the disabling condition appear and continuously manifest themselves afterwards, providing that the medical evidence shows there to be a reasonable possibility of causal connection between the accident and the disabling condition. 579 So.2d at 980.
Importantly, in Cooper v. United Southern Assur. Co., 97-0250 (La. App. 1 Cir. 9/9/98), 718 So.2d 1029, the First Circuit noted:
This [Housley] presumption is rebuttable, and the causal link can be broken if the opposition successfully rebuts plaintiff's evidence. The issue of whether plaintiff is entitled to the benefit of this presumption is factual and is subject to the manifest error standard of review. If the jury's findings are reasonable in light of the record reviewed in its entirety, the court of appeal may not reverse. Consequently, when there are two permissible views of the evidence, the fact finder's choice between them cannot be manifestly erroneous or clearly wrong. Id. at 1041. (Citations omitted). (Emphasis added).
Further, our entire review is constrained by the m
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