Soniat v. Crown Buick & Risk Mgmt. Servs.
Soniat v. Crown Buick & Risk Mgmt. Servs.
Opinion of the Court
*1294In this worker's compensation case, Claimant, James Soniat, appeals the trial court's judgment denying him reinstatement of previously awarded indemnity benefits. For the reasons that follow, we affirm.
As we noted in Claimant's prior appeal in this matter,
The matter came for trial on January 3, 2018. At that time, Claimant testified about his initial injury sustained at Crown Buick, his subsequent medical treatment, and the consistent pain
With regard to his attempt to return to work at Crown Buick, Claimant stated that Dr. Waguespack signed a job analysis for him which said that she thought Claimant could perform a light duty job at Crown Buick that involved sitting continuously, with certain restrictions. Claimant testified that, while at the new job, he was in constant pain when he sat. He also walked and stood occasionally, but not without pain. Claimant explained that he was unable to drive continuously to Crown Buick, and needed to stop, get out of his car and stretch on the way there.
Upon returning to work, claimant's supervisor at Crown Buick was Cheryl Wright. Every day, Claimant reported to Wright that his pain got to a point where he could not take it anymore and had to leave. Claimant stated that he was never able to complete an eight-hour work day, and was never able to work two days in a row. He said summarily that he could not perform the light duty job at Crown Buick. Claimant continued to treat with Dr. Waguespack on a monthly basis, and was aware that Dr. Waguespack still believed that he could do the light duty job, despite his complaints about pain.
Claimant testified that his supervisors at Crown Buick made every effort to accommodate him. They switched out his office chair on request, and also had no problem with him standing, moving, walking and sitting as needed. Claimant's job was to call people on the phone who had some service done at the dealership and check on whether the customer was satisfied with the service. He did not take extra medication to perform the job.
Elier Diaz was accepted by the court, without objection, as a licensed Louisiana Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor who had worked with Claimant to find him a job. Diaz obtained Claimant's medical information from Dr. Waguespack and contacted Crown Buick, which expressed an interest in exploring the possibility of letting Claimant work in a new position. Diaz obtained the list of physical work restrictions, and a position was created for Claimant which was within the "sedentary level."
Diaz monitored Claimant at his job, and ensured that Crown Buick was meeting Claimant's requirements. When Claimant told Diaz that he was not able to physically accomplish the work, a second consultation with Dr. Waguespack was arranged at Diaz's request and Dr. Waguespack reiterated her opinion that Claimant could physically perform the job offered to him by Crown Buick. Diaz said that Crown Buick was willing to help Claimant to be successful *1296and that the company was complimentary about the way Claimant performed his work for them.
Cheryl Wright testified that she held the position of the controller at Crown Buick. She worked with Diaz and Claimant to assist Claimant in his role as a customer service representative. Wright observed that Claimant did well as a customer service representative, and that the job was still available to Claimant as of the time of trial. Claimant last worked for Crown Buick in June of 2017.
At the conclusion of trial, the matter was taken under advisement. On February 20, 2018, the trial court rendered a final judgment in favor of Crown Buick, holding that Claimant "failed to prove by clear and convincing evidence that he is incapable of employment due to substantial pain" and, accordingly, "failed to prove that he is entitled to reinstatement of his indemnity benefits." Claimant's claim was dismissed with prejudice and each party was ordered to bear its own cost.
Claimant filed the instant appeal.
ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR
Claimant contends that the trial court erred in failing to reinstate his indemnity benefits and in further failing to award him penalties and attorney's fees.
LAW AND ANALYSIS
Factual findings in a worker's compensation case are subject to the manifest error or clearly wrong standard of appellate review. Banks v. Industrial Roofing and Sheet Metal , 96-2840 (La. 7/1/97),
The reviewing court is compelled to review the record in its entirety to determine whether the trial court's finding was clearly wrong or manifestly erroneous. Wise v. H.B. Zachary Co. , 00-3 (La. App. 5 Cir. 4/25/00),
Whether a claimant's pain is substantial enough to be disabling is a question of fact that must be determined according to the circumstances of each individual case. Camardelle v. K Mart Corp., 04-224 (La. App. 5 Cir. 7/27/04),
In Chaisson v. Cajun Bag & Supply Co. , 97-1225 (La. 3/4/98),
In Frazier v. Covenant Servs. Worldwide , 16-744 (La. App. 5 Cir. 5/31/17),
In affirming the trial court's ruling on appeal, we reasoned:
Here, Ms. Frazier's treating physician felt that the position, which Covenant offered and Ms. Frazier accepted, was within her physical capabilities, which included driving. Further, the record reveals that the new job was "within the claimant's or employer's community or reasonable geographic region," and was actually closer than her previous job. See Banks ,696 So.2d at 559 . Thus, Ms. Frazier did not carry her burden of proving that the injury resulted in her inability to earn 90% of her pre-injury wages.
However, under La. R.S. 23:1221(3)(C)(ii), "if the employee establishes by clear and convincing evidence, ..., that solely as a consequence of substantial pain, the employee cannot perform employment offered, tendered, or otherwise proven to be available to him, the employee shall be deemed incapable of performing such employment." Thus, if Ms. Frazier had presented clear and convincing evidence that her pain prevented her from performing her job she would be "deemed incapable of performing such employment."
After trial, however, the court found that "claimant did not meet her burden *1298of proof by clear and convincing evidence to establish her job with Covenant ... was not acceptable due to pain." Here, Ms. Frazier testified that she was capable of doing the job, if she did not have pain. As part of her return to work, Covenant allowed Ms. Frazier to bring her medical pain-reducing equipment - the "ice machine" - to use during her shift, which she did successfully during her first shift. Jill Delatte testified that she did not see Ms. Frazier's "ice machine" on the second night.
Further, the medical records reveal that her treating orthopedist, Dr. Savoie, felt that Ms. Frazier would always have some shoulder pain but that she could return to work with restrictions. In light of the evidence presented in the record, we cannot say that the OWC judge's findings were manifestly erroneous or clearly wrong. We find no merit in this assignment of error.
In the instant case, the record demonstrates that Claimant's treating physician, Dr. Waguespack, concluded that Claimant had reached maximum medical improvement from his injuries
DECREE
Accordingly, for the foregoing reasons, the judgment of the trial court is affirmed.
AFFIRMED
Soniat v. Crown Buick and Risk Management Services , 14-489 (La. App. 5 Cir. 12/16/14),
In the prior appeal, we detailed that Claimant had been diagnosed by an orthopedic doctor with lumbar disc herniation.
Claimant described his ongoing pain as "stabbing," "constant," and radiating from the middle of his back down to his ankle.
At trial, Claimant's counsel introduced, without opposition, an exhibit containing Dr. Waguespack's records.
Claimant stated that the commute to Crown Buick was normally a 15-20 minute drive from his home.
Diaz testified that "sedentary" is the least physically demanding level, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
Included in the exhibit of Claimant's medical records is a letter dated July 28, 2015 from Nurse Case Manager, Sharon Campo, to Dr. Waguespack which requests verification of details from a rehabilitation conference that took place on July 24, 2015. The letter recounts that on May 21, 2015, Claimant was placed at the Maximum Medical Improvement (MMI) which could be made without surgery. Also, a Functional Capacity Evaluation (FCE) was recommended for Claimant to determine his physical capabilities. This was based on Claimant's representation at that meeting that his symptoms were not severe enough to warrant surgery. Another document in the exhibit indicates that Claimant refused to perform 13 of the 20 tests in the FCE on July 15, 2015.
A verification letter dated August 14, 2015, from Diaz to Dr. Waguespack confirms Dr. Waguespack's opinion that Claimant "may return to work within the light level, as defined by the United States Department of Labor." Dr. Waguespack also confirmed that Claimant "should only engage in occasional bending, stooping, crouching, twisting, and crawling" and that he "may stand or sit for an entire workday provided he is allowed to alternate positions as needed."
The trial court in this matter referenced our holding in Frazier in its written reasons for judgment:
In Frazier , the Fifth Circuit found that claimant did not "present clear and convincing evidence that her pain prevented her from performing her job." Supra [sic]. The facts are similar in this case. Claimant's treating physician, Dr. Waguespack, released him to light duty employment. Dr. Waguespack was aware of Claimant's complaints of numbness, weakness, and radiating pain. However, she indicated that he could work with restrictions. She indicated that he could sit continuously, walk occasionally, stand occasionally, and reach and handle items.
Similarly, Claimant's medical records show that Dr. Najeeb Thomas of the Spinecare Medical Group, wrote a letter on May 30, 2016, to Adjuster Magdelon Blanchard of Risk Management Services, which provided a report of his "second opinion" following an examination of Claimant. In relevant part, Dr. Thomas found that Claimant's "MRI findings do not correlate to his pain" and, "[Claimant's] main problems are subjective complaints." Dr. Thomas agreed with Dr. Nutik that Claimant could do light duty work with limitations and concluded that Claimant likely reached MMI approximately six months after his accident.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.