Opinion ID: 782336
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: The claimants' past lost wages

Text: 63 The claimants assert that the district court erred because it considered payments made to the claimants by Texaco and reduced their award for past lost wages accordingly. For the first six months after the collision, each of the claimants received a semi-monthly check from Texaco covering (1) workers' compensation benefits, and (2) an additional amount under Texaco's short-term disability policy which was intended to make-up the difference between the compensation benefits and their ordinary wages. The district court found that these benefits actually constituted lost wages, a finding the claimants now contest. As the claimants offered no details about the benefits, the district court determined that it could not use the factors set out in Phillips v. Western Company of North America, 953 F.2d 923, 932 (5th Cir.1992), and Davis v. Odeco, Inc., 18 F.3d 1237, 1243 (5th Cir.1994), to make a finding that the benefits were in fact collateral. The district court reduced the past lost wages award, despite the collateral source rule, on two grounds: (1) by introducing evidence of the past wages themselves, the claimants waived any objection; and, (2) if the claimants were permitted to receive wages from both Texaco and as damages, they would be receiving double recovery. 64 The collateral source rule is a substantive rule of law that bars a tortfeasor from reducing the quantum of damages owed to a plaintiff by the amount of recovery the plaintiff receives from other sources of compensation that are independent of (or collateral to) the tortfeasor. Davis, 18 F.3d at 1243. Sources of compensation that have no connection to the tortfeasor are inevitably collateral. Id. at 1244. This court reviews decisions concerning whether such benefits are collateral under a de novo standard. Id. at 1245. 65 The district court assumed that once a plaintiff introduces evidence of past benefits received, they have waived any objections about the benefits being used to reduce their past lost wages award. The finding of waiver, however, is not completely accurate because the claimants did object to such benefits being considered under the collateral source rule and, in fact, the district court stated that it would not so consider the benefits. It is true that the claimants stipulated to these amounts at trial, but because Texaco was seeking reimbursement for these amounts as an intervenor, the claimants were required to so stipulate by the Eastern District's Code of Professionalism, which states, in relevant part that [attorneys] will cooperate with counsel and the court to reduce the cost of litigation and will readily stipulate to all matters not in dispute. U.S. Dist. Ct. Rules E.D. La., Orders, Code of Professionalism (adopted Aug. 4, 1999). We conclude, therefore, that it is factually inaccurate to find that the claimants waived any objection to these benefits being considered in calculating their lost wages simply because the stipulated amounts were introduced by the claimants. 66 Obviously, by introducing such evidence, the claimants had waived any evidentiary objections, but this is a different type of waiver altogether from waiving an objection to their benefits being reduced by the amount of their damages. In fact, in Parker v. Wideman, a panel of this Court, applying Florida law, stated that the plaintiffs do not waive this substantive right just because they introduce such evidence themselves. 380 F.2d 433, 436 (5th Cir.1967) (Thus, while the tender of such evidence by the defendant may be excluded on objection by the plaintiff, the introduction of such evidence by the plaintiff does not bar him from recovering expenses necessitated by the tort-feasor's negligence, even though the expenses were met by monies received from a collateral source.). 7 We therefore conclude that the claimants did not waive the collateral source rule objection. 67 As for the second basis for its decision, that to give the claimants credit for these benefits would give them a double recovery, we also find that the district court erred. The district court's concerns about double recovery are misplaced as is its seeming reliance on Phillips and Davis. 8 In those cases, this Court evaluated employee benefit programs to determine whether they were bargained for fringe benefits rather than benefits intended to anticipate potential legal liability on the part of the tortfeasor. Davis, 18 F.3d at 1244. Thus, we have recognized that it would be unfair to allow the plaintiff a double recovery when both the liability judgment and the collateral benefits are paid for by the defendant. Phillips, 953 F.2d at 931 (emphasis added). These concerns about double recovery were in the context of a tortfeasor/defendant having to pay twice, however, and not a third party paying the benefits as we have here. Therefore, there was no need to rely on these cases in the first place. Furthermore, there was no second recovery in the present case, because the claimants had to reimburse Texaco for the stipulated amounts of past benefits. 9 Also, even if the claimants had not reimbursed Texaco, the fact that the claimants may have gotten a second recovery would still be irrelevant because to hold otherwise would punish the claimants for having the foresight to establish and maintain collateral sources of income. Davis, 18 F.3d at 1244, n. 21. 68 Considering the factors above, we find that, to the extent that the claimants past lost wages were reduced, the district court's decision was in error. We therefore reverse and remand so that the district court may enter a damages amount reflecting the stipulated amounts paid by Texaco, which were previously excluded. 69 Did the district court err in denying the claimants request for attorney's fees? 70 The claimants also argue that they were inequitably denied reimbursement from Texaco for attorney's fees. Under Louisiana law, employees are generally allowed to recover a portion of their attorney's fees if their employer intervenes in a suit against a third party tortfeasor. La.Rev.Stat. Ann. § 23:1103. As the district court pointed out, however, a claimant seeking to recover fees must introduce evidence sufficient to enable the court to make a proper apportionment. Rivet v. LeBlanc, 600 So.2d 1358, 1363 (La.App. 1 Cir.1992). As no such evidence was presented at trial or in connection with the hearing on the motion for attorney's fees, the district court denied the claimants' request. Though the claimants believe that the district court should have taken judicial notice of the claimants' enrichment of Texaco, they cite to no case law that supports this proposition. Additionally, § 23:1103(c) provides in part that the intervenor shall only be responsible for a share of the reasonable legal fees and costs incurred by the attorney retained by the plaintiff, and [t]he amount of the portion of attorney's fees shall be determined by the district court based on the proportionate services of the attorneys which benefitted or augmented the recovery from the third party. Despite the claimants' assertions that it was obvious that the Texaco attorneys rode on the coattails of their attorneys, they provided no evidence on which the district court could make any sort of reasonable determination. We therefore conclude that the district court's decision was correct. 71 Did the district court err in finding that different injuries were caused by the different impacts? 72 The claimants assert that the district court erred by finding that different injuries were caused by different impacts because there was no testimony to support such findings. The claimants argue that, if this Court should find that the CANE RIVER is liable, then the injury determination has bearing on apportionment of liability. However, as the district court placed no liability on the CANE RIVER and we affirm that decision today, this issue is moot.