Case Name: Ronald BANDY, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. INTERNATIONAL PAPER COMPANY, Defendant-Appellant
Court: Louisiana Court of Appeal
Jurisdiction: Louisiana
Decision Date: 1997-02-26
Citations: 690 So. 2d 902
Docket Number: No. 29085-CA
Parties: Ronald BANDY, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. INTERNATIONAL PAPER COMPANY, Defendant-Appellant.
Judges: Before WILLIAMS, STEWART and CARAWAY, JJ.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 690
Pages: 902–911

Head Matter:
Ronald BANDY, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. INTERNATIONAL PAPER COMPANY, Defendant-Appellant.
No. 29085-CA.
Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Second Circuit.
Feb. 26, 1997.
Rehearing Denied March 27, 1997.
Mayer, Smith & Roberts by Frank K. Carroll, Shreveport, for Defendant-Appellant.
Mills, Timmons & Flowers by William T. Allison, Shreveport, for Plaintiff-Appellee.
Before WILLIAMS, STEWART and CARAWAY, JJ.

Opinion:
11WILLIAMS, Judge.
In this worker's compensation action, the defendant, International Paper Company ("I.P."), appeals a worker's compensation hearing officer's judgment finding that the claimant, Ronald Bandy, was injured in a work-related accident and was entitled to temporary, total disability benefits and medical expenses. For the following reasons, we amend and affirm as amended.
FACTS
The claimant, Ronald Bandy, was employed by the defendant, I.P., as a truck driver. At approximately 2:00 a.m. on a Saturday morning in January 1994, claimant returned from his last delivery of a 70-hour work week. According to the claimant, the temperature was well below freezing at the time and he was fatigued. As the last driver to return to the I.P. yard, the claimant was responsible for moving loaded truck trailers away from the loading docks. This process required the claimant to back the truck cab under each trailer, manually hook the trailer to the truck, and drive to the parking lot. Then, he had to manually unhook the loaded trailer, attach an empty trailer and back the truck into the loading area. On the night in question, claimant moved approximately twelve trailers in a period of two hours, requiring him to repeatedly leave the warm truck cab to work in the sub-freezing weather. The claimant returned to work the following Monday with a fever, cough and sore throat. He continued to work for approximately one month before seeking medical treatment.
On February 14, 1994, Dr. Marvin K. Soi-leau examined claimant, who reported respiratory problems, shortness of breath and a cough. Dr. Soileau found secretions in claimant's lung tissue, indicating pneumonia or possible early congestive heart failure, and admitted him to the hospital. Based on claimant's lack of a fever and his other symptoms, Dr. Soileau concluded the pneumonia was viral in origin. The claimant's condition improved and he was discharged from the |2hospital a week later. Subsequently, he returned to work.
On July 20, 1994, claimant returned to Dr. Soileau with symptoms of congestive heart failure, including shortness of breath and swelling in his legs. Dr. Ellis Cooper, a physician board certified in internal medicine, also examined claimant and admitted him to Willis Knighton Medical Center in Shreveport. X-rays indicated that claimant suffered from an enlarged heart, pulmonary vascular congestion and fluid in the lungs. Dr. Cooper diagnosed claimant as having congestive heart failure.
Dr. Michael Futrell, a board certified cardiologist, also treated claimant during his July and August hospitalization. Dr. Futrell testified that claimant's history of hypertension, smoking, obesity, diabetes and prior coronary heart disease may have contributed to his cardiomyopathy. However, Dr. Fut-rell opined that the probable cause of claim ant's congestive heart failure was a viral infection (viral myocarditis), which he contracted in January. According to Dr. Fut-rell, the two most common viruses that attack the heart are Coxsackie A and B and the Echo virus. He testified that these viruses may begin to damage the heart within a period of three to five days after the virus enters the blood stream.
The defendant paid claimant short-term weekly benefits of $154.00 during the periods of February 14, 1994 to March 5, 1994; July 30, 1994 to August 29, 1994; and September 14, 1994 through January 1995, when claimant began receiving monthly Social Security disability payments of $1,248.70. In February 1995, the claimant filed a claim for worker's compensation benefits against I.P., which is self-insured. After a hearing, the worker's compensation hearing officer found that the claimant was injured as the result of a work-related accident. The hearing officer concluded that claimant was entitled to receive temporary total disability benefits of $319 per week from February 14, 1994 until such time as the judgment is modified, subject to a credit for amounts already paid and an offset forJjjSocial Security disability payments received. The hearing officer also found that defendant was liable for all medical expenses related to the claimant's congestive heart failure. The defendant appeals.
DISCUSSION
In two of its assignments of error, the defendant argues the hearing officer erred in applying the provisions of LSA-R.S. 23:1021(1) and in finding that the claimant's work activity constituted an accident under the statute. Defendant contends that claimant failed to satisfy his burden of proving a causal connection between his work activity and the disabling heart-related condition.
If an employee suffers personal injury by accident arising out of and in the course of employment, his employer must pay compensation. LSA-R.S. 23:1031(A); Hamilton v. Southern Plastics, Inc., 535 So.2d 1016 (La.App. 2d Cir.1988), writ denied, 536 So.2d 1223 (1989). The claimant in a worker's compensation action has the burden of establishing a work-related accident by a preponderance of the evidence. Bruno v. Harbert International Inc., 593 So.2d 357 (La.1992); Williams v. Jones Truck Lines, Inc., 27,465 (La.App. 2d Cir. 11/1/95), 662 So.2d 867. Proof by a preponderance of the evidence is sufficient where the evidence, taken as a whole, shows that the fact sought to be proved is more probable than not. Lubom v. L.J. Earnest, Inc., 579 So.2d 1174 (La.App. 2d Cir.1991).
A worker's testimony alone may be sufficient to prove a work-related accident, provided that other evidence does not discredit or cast serious doubt upon the worker's version of the accident and his testimony is corroborated by the circumstances following the incident. Bruno v. Harbert International Inc., supra; Lubom v. L.J. Earnest, Inc., supra. A claimant's disability is presumed to have resulted from an accident if before the incident he was in good health, but commencing with the accident the symptoms of the disabling condition appear and ^continuously thereafter manifest themselves. There must be sufficient medical evidence to show a reasonable possibility of a causal connection between the accident and the disabling condition, or the nature of the accident must raise a natural inference that such a connection exists. Lubom v. L.J. Earnest, Inc., supra.
LSA-R.S. 23:1021(1) defines "accident" as an unexpected or unforeseen actual event happening suddenly or violently, with or without human fault, and producing at the time objective findings of an injury. The event which triggers compensation coverage may be an unexpected change in the employee's physical condition which renders him incapable of working and which is caused, at least in part, by an employment incident. Bradley v. Morton Thiokol, Inc., 27,411 (La. App. 2d Cir. 9/29/95), 661 So.2d 691.
In the present case, claimant described the work incident in which he was moving truck trailers by himself in adverse weather conditions. His account was corroborated by a coworker, Damon Roper, who testified that he remembered the event described by claimant and that the temperature was "in the teens" that night. The claimant testified that fol lowing this episode, he experienced shortness of breath, a sore throat and a cough. When he initially saw Dr. Soileau, claimant related the onset of these symptoms to the particular event of moving trailers in extreme cold.
The record contains evidence that claimant's employment activity produced a change in his physical condition. Dr. Soileau discovered fluid or secretions in claimant's lung tissue and determined that he had viral pneumonia. Dr. Soileau stated that it was a reasonable possibility that claimant's fatigue and exposure to extreme cold reduced his ability to resist contracting the viral infection. Similarly, Dr. Cooper and Dr. Futrell testified that fatigue and physical exertion in sub-freezing temperatures would make claimant more likely to succumb to respiratory infection. The hearing officer was aware of the parties' stipulation regarding the | ¡dispute in the medical community about the effect that exposure to cold, stress and fatigue have on a person's immune system. However, based on the evidence in the record, the hearing officer could reasonably conclude that claimant's January 1994 work activity, consisting of moving trailers for two hours in adverse weather conditions, constitutes an accident which produced symptoms of a viral infection. The assignments of error lack merit.
Causation
Defendant contends that claimant failed to establish by clear and convincing evidence that his physical work stress was either unusual compared to that of the average worker, or the predominant and major cause of his heart-related illness, as required by LSA-R.S. 23:1021(7)(e). The claimant argues that the viral infection caused a cardiomyopathy, and that the resulting congestive heart failure is a complication of a compensable injury contracted during his employment.
An employer is liable for worker's compensation when the initial injury is aggravated by medical complications or a subsequent injury, whether due to improper medical treatment or otherwise, if the complications are caused by the work-related injury. Blount v. Cooper Stevedoring Co., Inc., 416 So.2d 358 (La.App. 4th Cir.1982); Fields v. Sperry Rand Corp., 343 So.2d 339 (La.App. 2d Cir.), writ denied, 345 So.2d 902 (La.1977).
In the present case, the expert medical testimony established that claimant's disabling congestive heart failure was causally related to the viral infection. In 1980, the claimant had suffered a heart attack caused by coronary artery disease. However, Dr. Futrell and Dr. Cooper opined that the 1980 atherosclerotic heart disease did not cause the 1994 cardiomyopathy. There was evidence that this condition had not worsened, since the artery had reeanalized and opened wider.
Dr. Cooper testified that both viral pneumonia and longstanding hypertension coupled with the resultant enlarged heart, could cause congestivejfjheart failure. However, he did not believe that claimant's hypertension, or any of his other pre-existing conditions, was the major contributory factor to the cardiomyopathy. Dr. Futrell opined that the viral infection, or viremia, played the severe contributing role in claimant's car-diomyopathy. In addition, Dr. Soileau testified that a viral weakening of the heart muscle itselflwas the more probable cause of the cardiac myopathy.
A hearing officer's findings of fact are subject to the manifest error standard of review. Charles v. Travelers Ins. Co., 627 So.2d 1366 (La.1993). An employer is obligated to furnish all necessary medical expenses related to the work injury. Knotts v. Snelling Temporaries, 27,773 (La.App. 2d Cir. 12/6/95), 665 So.2d 657. On the basis of the expert testimony in the record, we cannot say that the hearing officer was clearly wrong in finding that the claimant's congestive heart failure was a complication or natural sequelae of the initial work-related viral infection. Therefore, the defendant is responsible for all reasonable and necessary expenses related to medical treatment of the claimant's congestive heart disease.
The defendant argues that the claimant's heart-related illness is not compensable unless he has met the criteria set forth in LSA-R.S. 23:1021(7)(e). In support of its position, defendant cites Charles v. Travelers Ins. Co., supra, which involved a worker alleging that he suffered a heart attack in the course of his employment. However, that case can be distinguished from the present situation, where the preponderance of the evidence shows that claimant's congestive heart illness resulted as a consequence of the original work injury. Thus, LSA-R.S. 23:1021(7)(e) is not applicable. The assignment of error lacks merit.
Disability
The employer argues the hearing officer erred in awarding claimant temporary total disability benefits for the period from March 7, 1994 to July 30, 1994. The defendant contends the claimant was performing his normal job duties ^during that time, and was not physically unable to work.
Where a worker's compensation claimant seeks temporary total disability benefits, he bears the burden of proving by clear and convincing evidence that his injury prevents him from engaging in any employment. LSA-R.S. 23:1221(1). Here, claimant was awarded temporary total disability benefits from the date of February 14, 1994. However, there is no evidence that claimant was physically unable to engage in employment during the period of March 7, 1994 to July 29, 1994. In fact, claimant acknowledged that he worked and earned wages at I.P. during that time. After reviewing the record, we conclude that the hearing officer erred in awarding temporary total disability benefits for those weeks when the claimant was actually employed.
CONCLUSION
For the foregoing reasons, the hearing officer's judgment finding that claimant sustained a work-related injury, awarding temporary total disability benefits and ordering defendant to pay medical expenses is amended to reflect that claimant is not entitled to receive benefits for the period from March 7, 1994 to July 29, 1994. We affirm the judgment as amended. Costs of this appeal are assessed to the appellant, International Paper Company.
AMENDED; AND AFFIRMED AS AMENDED.
CARAWAY, J., dissents with written reasons.