Opinion ID: 1823003
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: History of Occupational Diseases under the Workers' Compensation Act

Text: It is noteworthy that although 1914 La. Acts 20 introduced Louisiana to a system which addressed the claims of injured workers free from tort analysis, it was not until 1952 that the Legislature established statutory authority allowing for the coverage of occupational diseases under Louisiana's workers' compensation law. With the passage of 1952 La. Acts 532, every employee who was disabled because of the contraction of an occupational disease was entitled to workers' compensation the same as if said employee received personal injury by accident arising out of and in the course of his employment. The statute provided a definition of an occupational disease, which stated, in pertinent part, that [a]n occupational disease shall include only those diseases hereinafter listed when contracted by an employee in the course of his employment as a result of the nature of the work performed. LA. REV. STAT. 23:1031.1(A) (1952). This exclusive list included diseases caused by contact with specific substances, namely the diseases of contact poisoning from enumerated sources, asbestosis, silicosis, dermatosis, and pneumoconiosis. LA. REV. STAT. 23:1031.1(A) (1952). Coverage was also provided for diseased conditions caused by exposure to X rays or radioactive substances. Subsequently, in 1958 La. Acts 39 the Legislature added tuberculosis as one of the specified occupational diseases, if it was contracted during the course of employment by an employee of a hospital or unit thereof specializing in the care and treatment of tuberculosis patients. LA. REV. STAT. 23:1031.1(A) (1958). It was further stated in Paragraph F of 1952 La. Acts 532 and 1958 La. Acts 39 that the rights and remedies granted to an employee for occupational diseases for which he [was] entitled to [workers'] compensation shall be exclusive of all other rights and remedies of such employee, his personal representatives, dependents or relatives. It was with the enactment of the 1952 legislation that the Legislature also made provision for occupational diseases contracted by employees who had worked for the employer for less than twelve months. That provision, enacted as LA. REV. STAT. 23:1031.1(B) of 1952 La. Acts 532, [6] survives today without any change as LA. REV. STAT. 23:1031.1(D), the statute which is the core of our present discussion. That statute reads as follows: Any occupational disease as herein listed contracted by an employee while performing work for a particular employer in which he has been engaged for less than twelve months shall be presumed to be non-occupational and not to have been contracted in the course of and arising out of such employment, provided, however, that any such occupational disease so contracted within the twelve months' limitation as set out herein shall become compensable when the occupational disease shall have been proved to have been contracted during the course of the prior twelve months' employment by an overwhelming preponderance of evidence. (emphasis added) [7] Initially, we recall this legislative history because it highlights and helps us resolve an issue regarding a seeming anomaly caused by the 1975 amendment to other portions of LA. REV. STAT. 23:1031.1. As LA. REV. STAT. 23:1031.1(D) is worded, the employee's heightened burden of proof is applicable only to those occupational diseases as herein listed. Although the 1952 and 1958 enactments listed specific occupational diseases, 1975 La. Acts 583 revised LA. REV. STAT. 23:1031.1(A) to amend the definition of occupational disease by removing the list of specific diseases for which there was coverage under workers' compensation and substituted the following: An occupational disease shall mean only that disease or illness which is due to causes and conditions characteristic of and peculiar to the particular trade, occupation, process, or employment in which the employee is exposed to such disease. [8] No changes were made to LA. REV. STAT. 23:1031.1(D) at that time. As a result, it is evident that the non-occupational presumption was retained for an exclusive list of specific diseases which no longer exists. Thus, before we reach the core question before us, we must ascertain what occupational diseases the non-occupational presumption affects. [9] It is well-recognized and a long-established rule of statutory construction that a statute should be interpreted as a whole to effect the legislative intent and should be construed in such way as to reconcile, if possible, apparent inconsistencies so that each part is given effect. State v. Cazes, 262 La. 202, 263 So.2d 8, 12 (1972). Thus, in Fruge v. Muffoletto, 242 La. 569, 137 So.2d 336, 339 (1962), we said: In construing a statute, the primary object is to ascertain and, if possible, give effect to the intention and purpose of the legislature as expressed in the statute. Since the meaning is to be determined from a general consideration of the act as a whole, all parts, provisions or sections must be read together; each must be considered with respect to, or in the light of, all the other provisions, and construed in harmony with the whole. The intent as deduced from the whole will prevail over that of a particular part considered separately. Meaning should be given, if possible, to each and every section, and the construction placed on one portion should not be such as to obliterate another; so, in determining the meaning of a word, phrase or clause, the entire statute is to be considered. Utilizing this rule of statutory construction, it is clear that LA. REV. STAT. 23:1031.1(D) cannot be restricted to the list of occupational diseases originally provided in the 1952 and 1958 enactments, because such a narrow construction of this provision would result in its nullification. Rather, it is clear that the Legislature's substantive revision of the definition of an occupational disease, which eliminated the list of specified diseases, is a clear indication that it made a fresh start with respect to this definition. Accordingly, we conclude that LA. REV. STAT. 23:1031.1(D) should be interpreted so that it has continued meaning and applicability. Therefore, we hold that LA. REV. STAT. 23:1031.1(D) must be read with reference to the broader definition of occupational disease enacted in the 1975 revision of LA. REV. STAT. 23:1031.1(A), and that its non-occupational presumption and heightened burden of proof are applied to those diseases which fit that revised definition. Having addressed this preliminary matter, we now turn to the question which prompted us to grant this writ.