Opinion ID: 1885322
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Argument of Reddell and Williams

Text: Relying on phraseology in LA.REV.STAT. ANN. § 23:1201 F, namely, the statute's use of a penalty, claim, and in the aggregate, Reddell and Williams contend the clear and unambiguous use of this terminology requires the reversal of the appellate court. We disagree. Reference to a penalty. One of the first rules of interpretation provided in the revised statutes cautions that [w]ords in the singular number include the plural and the plural includes the singular. LA.REV. STAT. ANN. § 1:7; see also LA. CIV.CODE ANN. art. 3506(2) (stating that [t]he singular is often employed to designate several persons or things....). Moreover, we note further that the last sentence of subsection F states that Penalties shall be assessed.... Accordingly, it is evident that there is inconsistency within subsection F as to whether a penalty actually means a single penalty as advocated by Reddell and Williams. [7] Therefore, the legislative use of the term a penalty is not preclusive of the issue of whether multiple penalties are provided, thus requiring further inquiry and a closer examination of the statute. Use of the word claim. Reddell and Williams contend that the appellate court erred when it equated the word claim with a demand for a particular benefit. They argue that such a broad interpretation of the word violates the strict construction accorded penal statutes and gives rise to multiple penalties for each late payment, non-payment, or refusal to pay compensation and medical benefits. They further suggest that such an interpretation would lead to absurd results. The word claim appears three times in subsection F. In the first instance the word claim is used in the provision that allows the assessment of reasonable attorney fees for each disputed claim. [8] The word claim later appears in subsection F when the statute caps the fifty dollars per calendar day penalty at $2,000 for any claim. [9] Lastly, the word claim is used in subsection F(2) when it states that penalties and attorneys' fees are not awarded if the claim is reasonably controverted or if such nonpayment results from conditions over which the employer or insurer had no control. It is well recognized that although the term claim appears throughout the Workers' Compensation Act, a definition of that term does not exist in the Act. Ross v. Highlands Ins. Co., 590 So.2d 1177, 1181 (La.1991). Nonetheless, it is clear from the context of provisions using the term [in the Workers' Compensation Act] that the underlying claim for relief is what is meant, not the enforcement of a judgment. A claim is initiated by the filing of a petition with the OWC once an issue surfaces which the parties cannot themselves resolve. Id. at 1181; LA.REV.STAT. ANN. §§ 23:1310, 23:1310.3; see also Rock v. City of New Orleans, 94-2613 (La.App. 4 Cir. 9/15/95), 661 So.2d 1091, reversed on other grounds sub nom Fauchaux v. City of New Orleans, 95-2500 (La.1/12/96), 666 So.2d 285. Viewing the penalty issue contextually, we observe that LA.REV.STAT. ANN. §§ 23:1201(B), (C), (D), and (E) impose a twofold continuing obligation on the employer/insurer: (1) to pay all compensation and medical benefits due, i.e., payment of the correct amount owed, and (2) to pay for compensation and medical benefits within the time limit specified. It is further evident from the statute that should the employer/insurer not abide by those dictates, the Legislature has made available to the employee the provisions of LA.REV.STAT. ANN. § 23:1201(F) which provide for the assessment of a penalty as well as an award for reasonable attorneys' fees as a means to encourage compliance with the statutory obligations. [10] As exemplified in the two consolidated cases before us, it is readily apparent that an employer/insurer may make multiple errors in this regard and may have two or more claims under LA.REV.STAT. ANN. § 23:1201(F). See p. 6, supra. We find this discourse helpful in the resolution of the issue presented for two primary reasons. First, it is presumed the Legislature enacts each statute with deliberation and with full knowledge of all existing laws on the same subject. Folse v. Folse, 98-1976 (La.6/29/99), 738 So.2d 1040. Thus, legislative language will be interpreted on the assumption that the Legislature was aware of existing statutes, rules of construction, and judicial decisions interpreting those statutes. New Orleans Rosenbush Claims Service, Inc. v. City of New Orleans, 94-2223 (La.4/10/95), 653 So.2d 538. Applying this element to the present case, it is presumed the Legislature was aware of the understanding this Court ascribed in Ross to the undefined word claim embodied in the Workers Compensation Act. It is further presumed from the legislatively chosen wording of other provisions of LA.REV.STAT. ANN. § 23:1201 that the Legislature was well aware that an employee might have multiple claims for the various obligations imposed upon employers/insurers and delineated therein. Secondly, where a statute is susceptible of two constructions, courts will give that construction which best comports with principles of reason, justice, and convenience, for it is to be presumed that the Legislature intentionally employed language that would avoid leading to injustice, oppression, or absurd consequences. Progressive Sec. Ins. Co. v. Foster, 97-2985 (La.4/23/98), 711 So.2d 675; Freechou v. Thomas W. Hooley, Inc., 383 So.2d 337 (La.1980). Evidenced by the numerous cases reported in the jurisprudence, it is well established that the underlying reason for the imposition of penalties and attorneys' fees in the workers' compensation arena is to combat the indifference by employers and insurers toward injured workers. See e.g., Williams v. Rush Masonry, Inc., 98-2271 (La.6/29/99), 737 So.2d 41; Sharbono v. Steve Lang & Son Loggers, 97-0110 (La.7/1/97), 696 So.2d 1382. In light of our foregoing discussion, we find it consistent with the legislative intent to interpret claim as a demand for particular benefits as found by the appellate court. Such an interpretation is consistent with the other provisions of LA.REV.STAT. ANN. § 23:1201 and in accord with the purpose for the Legislature's inclusion of penalties and attorneys' fees in the scheme of workers' compensation law. In those instances where a claim is either not reasonably controverted or if nonpayment results from conditions under the control of the employer or insurer, this proviso for multiple penalties will address the recalcitrant employer or insurer and will encourage employers and their workers' compensation insurers to honor their continuing obligation to the injured worker. [T]o conclude otherwise would dilute the deterrent effect of these statutory provisions, which are not intended to make the worker `whole' but rather to discourage specific conduct on the part of the employer. Haynes, 805 So.2d at 231(quoting Gay v. Georgia Pacific Corp., 32,653 (La.App. 2 Cir. 12/12/99), 754 So.2d 1101); see also Sharbono, 696 So.2d at 1386. Simply stated, without such an understanding of the statute, there would be nothing to leverage the obstinate employer or its insurer to comply with their statutory obligation to the injured worker. In reaching this determination, we find no merit to the contention of Reddell and Williams that the Legislature's use of the phrase in the aggregate would be rendered meaningless if multiple penalties for indemnity and medical benefits are allowed to stand. When the Legislature amended LA.REV.STAT. ANN. § 23:1201(F) in 1995, it changed the wording from in the aggregate to in the aggregate for any claim. The phrase in the aggregate is defined as: considered as a whole: collectively. WEBSTER'S NEW COLLEGIATE DICTIONARY 22 (1981). When a new statute is worded differently from the preceding statute, it is presumed the Legislature intended to change the law. Brown, 721 So.2d at 889; New Orleans Rosenbush Claims Service, Inc., 653 So.2d at 544. With the inclusion of the additional language, it appears that the Legislature recognized that there may be more than one claim and added language to clarify that multiple $50 per day penalties existed, each collectively which could not exceed $2,000. In further support of our determination, we find that if the Legislature had so desired, it could easily have done as it did with regard to provisions it made for health care providers to recover penalties and attorneys' fees in certain instance. See n. 6, supra. In that instance, as part of the amendments of 1995 LA. ACTS No. 1137 when subsection (F) was rewritten and redesignated, the Legislature specified: This Subsection [(4)] shall not be construed to provide for recovery of more than one penalty or attorney fee. We find its silence as to a like result in the present instance is telling. We further disagree with the contention of Williams and Reddell that adoption of the appellate court's holding results in absurd consequences. As we have stated on numerous occasions, the body of workers' compensation law is in the nature of social legislation. O'Regan, 758 So.2d at 128 (quoting Atchison v. May, 201 La. 1003, 10 So.2d 785, 788 (1942)). [11] This facet is not to be forgotten. In that regard, it is appropriate to further call to mind, for both the employers/insurers and injured workers alike, that their roles in this system of social legislation are not to be taken lightly. For employers/insurers, the need to provide for injured workers is a continuing obligation, one recognized in the legislative enactments as a duty to pay the employee or dependent the maximum percentage of wages to which the employee is entitled, to make compensation payments timely, and to provide needed medical care in conformity with statutory guidelines. Correlatively, injured workers are required by LA.REV.STAT. ANN. § 23:1208 not to misrepresent their entitlement to workers' compensation benefits, to submit to medical examination as required by LA.REV.STAT. ANN. § 23:1124, to cooperate with vocational rehabilitation as provided in LA.REV. STAT. ANN. § 23:1226(E), and to bring only bona fide disputes, i.e., good faith claims, before the OWC. Finally, we express no opinion about the theoretical set of facts that the amicus curiae poses in its brief relative to a potential multiple penalties case. This Court has frequently noted that the grant of judicial power implicitly restricts our courts to review only matters which are justiciable, i.e., actual and substantial disputes with adverse parties, not hypothetical, moot, or abstract questions of law. See Cat's Meow v. City of New Orleans, 98-0601 (La.10/29/98), 720 So.2d 1186, 1193; Perschall v. State, 96-0322 (La.7/1/97), 697 So.2d 240, 251; Louisiana Associated Gen. Contractors, Inc. v. State, 95-2105 (La.3/8/96), 669 So.2d 1185, 1193. We have defined a justiciable controversy as an existing actual and substantial dispute, as distinguished from one that is merely hypothetical or abstract, and a dispute which involves the legal relations of the parties who have real adverse interests, and upon which the judgment of the court may effectively operate through a decree of conclusive character. Abbott v. Parker, 259 La. 279, 249 So.2d 908, 918 (1971). This Court has clearly held that [t]he Constitution does not vest [Louisiana courts] with jurisdiction to render advisory opinions. Belsome v. Southern Stevedoring, Inc., 239 La. 413, 118 So.2d 458, 461 (1960). Guided by our holding today, we are confident the OWC and the appellate courts are fully able to ferret out those penalties for which an award should be made. [12] We find the appellate court properly interpreted the provisions of this statute in favor of finding that LA.REV.STAT. ANN. § 23:1201(F) provides multiple penalties for multiple violations of compensation and medical benefits claims.