Opinion ID: 1902709
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: RETROACTIVE EFFECT OF La. R.S. 23:1310.8

Text: Act 323 of the 1999 Regular Session amended La. R.S. 23:1310.8 to create a prescriptive period for claims of modification under the statute. La. R.S. 23:1310.8(D), which is new, provides: A petition to modify a judgment awarding benefits shall be subject to the prescriptive limitations established in R.S. 23:1209. Thus, with this amendment, the legislature has expressly provided for a prescriptive period for modifications of compensation awards. Defendant argues that this provision applies retroactively to bar Mr. Falgout's claim. We disagree and hold that it does not. Prescriptive limitations relate to the remedy and are usually treated as procedural and applied retroactively. Lott v. Haley, 370 So.2d 521, 523 (La.1979). However, prescriptive statutes cannot, consistently with state and federal constitutions, apply retroactively to disturb a person's pre-existing right. Id. at 524. When a party acquires a right, either to sue for a cause of action or to defend himself against one, that right becomes a vested property right and is protected by the due process guarantees. Cole v. Celotex, 599 So.2d 1058, 1063 (La.1992). However, this Court has held that a newlycreated statute of prescription that shortens existing periods of limitation will not violate the constitutional prohibition against divesting a vested right provided it allows a reasonable time for those affected by the act to assert their rights. Lott, 370 So.2d at 524 (citing Cooper v. Lykes, 218 La. 251, 49 So.2d 3 (1950); State v. Recorder of Mortgages, 186 La. 661, 173 So. 139 (1937)). When the legislature enacts a prescriptive statute that potentially affects existing causes of action and fails to require parties to exercise their vested rights within a reasonable time, the courts should refrain from supplying this legislative lapse. Maltby v. Gauthier, 506 So.2d 1190, 1193 (La.1987). In the present case, Mr. Falgout acquired his right to file a claim for modification pursuant to La. R.S. 23:1310.8 when he received his initial workers' compensation award in 1993. At that time, no prescriptive limit applied to La. R.S. 23:1310.8. Now, with Act No. 323 of the 1999 Regular Session, the legislature has amended La. R.S. 23:1310.8 to create a prescriptive period limiting the time in which a claim for modification can be filed pursuant to La. R.S. 23:1310.8. However, to apply the prescriptive period retroactively would divest Mr. Falgout of his vested property right because the amendment does not provide a reasonable time for those affected by the act to assert their rights. We decline to supply a shortened period within which vested rights must be asserted in the absence of an indication of such a legislative intent. Thus, because to apply newly amended subpart D of La. R.S. 23:1310.8 retroactively would divest Mr. Falgout of his vested property right to file a claim for modification of his compensation award, we hold that the amendment applies prospectively only.