James Landreneau v. St. Landry Fire District III

STATE OF LOUISIANA
COURT OF APPEAL, THIRD CIRCUIT

03-0870

JAMES LANDRENEAU

VERSUS

ST. LANDRY FIRE DISTRICT III

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APPEAL FROM THE
OFFICE OF WORKERS’ COMPENSATION - DISTRICT 2
PARISH OF RAPIDES, NO. 00-08258
JAMES L. BRADDOCK, WORKERS’ COMPENSATION JUDGE

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OSWALD A. DECUIR
JUDGE

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Court composed of Ulysses Gene Thibodeaux, Oswald A. Decuir, and Jimmie C.
Peters, Judges.

AFFIRMED.

James S. Gates
MORROW, MORROW, RYAN & BASSETT
P. O. Drawer 1787
Opelousas, LA 70571
(337) 948-4483
Counsel for Plaintiff/Appellant:
James Landreneau

Jeffrey J. Warrens
Attorney at Law
P. O. Box 98001
Baton Rouge, LA 70898-8001
(225) 231-0652
Counsel for Defendants/Appellees:
St. Landry Fire District III
Louisiana Workers’ Compensation Corporation

DECUIR, Judge.

Workers’ compensation claimant, James Landreneau, appeals a judgment

finding that he failed to carry the burden of proof necessary to establish that he

contracted bladder cancer as a result of his work as a firefighter.

FACTS

James Landreneau has been employed as a firefighter with St. Landry Fire

District III since 1973. Landreneau is presently the Assistant Fire Chief.

Landreneau was initially diagnosed with recurrent bladder cancer on August 2,

1989, after he had served as a firefighter for approximately sixteen years. There have

been three recurrences of the bladder cancer, for which Landreneau has undergone

prompt and successful surgery for removal of the tumors. He is not currently

disabled, and the payments for medical expenses associated with the recurrent bladder

cancers have been made through his private health insurance company, with his

personal payments of deductibles and copayments. LWCC and the employer have

declined to pay the expenses through workers’ compensation.

Landreneau responded to fires regularly throughout the years. In the early

years, from 1973 through 1980, protective equipment was infrequently used, and the

safety equipment was not as comprehensive as the respirators currently used. He is

a non-smoker, is not obese and has no history of bladder cancer in his family. The

only apparent risk factor for bladder cancer for Landreneau is his exposure to

chemicals, fire and smoke. The workers’ compensation judge found that these facts

were insufficient to establish that his bladder cancer was caused through occupational

exposure and, therefore, denied his claim for medical payments. Landreneau lodged

this appeal.

DISCUSSION

Landreneau contends that the workers’ compensation judge’s conclusion that

he failed to establish that he contracted bladder cancer as a result of his work as a

firefighter is manifestly erroneous. We disagree.

A previous panel of this court found that La.R.S. 33:2011 is not applicable to

this case because Landreneau is not disabled. Accordingly, his claim is based on the

theory that bladder cancer is an occupational disease under La.R.S. 23:1031.1.

Louisiana Revised Statute 23:1031.1 states, in pertinent part:

B. An occupational disease means 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. Occupational disease shall include
injuries due to work-related carpal tunnel syndrome. Degenerative disc
disease, spinal stenosis, arthritis of any type, mental illness, and
heart-related or perivascular disease are specifically excluded from the
classification of an occupational disease for the purpose of this Section.

In Coats v. American Telephone & Telegraph Co., 95-2670, p. 7 (La. 10/25/96),

681 So.2d 1243, 1247, the supreme court said:

In examining the merits of an occupational disease claim, the
threshold question is whether or not the claimant has sustained an
occupational disease resulting from causes and conditions characteristic
of and peculiar to his particular trade, occupation, process, or
employment. LSA-R.S. 23:1031.1; Peck v. Procter & Gamble
Manufacturing Co., 586 So.2d 714 (La.App. 3 Cir. 1991). Proof of such
a causal connection need not be shown to an absolute certainty. It is
sufficient that the claimant establish the cause of his disability by a
reasonable probability.

The parties stipulated prior to trial that Landreneau is not disabled by his

condition. Therefore, the compensability of his medical expenses under La.R.S.

23:1203 is the only issue in dispute. Thus, Landreneau had the burden of proving, by

a reasonable probability, that he contracted bladder cancer as a result of his

employment. The workers’ compensation judge found that he had not met that burden

of proof. This is a factual finding that this court will reverse only upon a showing that

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the workers’ compensation judge was manifestly erroneous or clearly wrong. See

Rosell v. ESCO, 549 So.2d 840 (La.1989).

To support his claim, Landreneau testified to his twenty-eight years as a

firefighter; his exposure to toxic chemicals, smoke and fire; and the lack of any other

pertinent risk factors for bladder cancer. In addition, Landreneau put on evidence,

which the parties stipulated to be accurate, as to the number of fires during the period

when he contracted his bladder cancer. There was no evidence that he had bladder

cancer before he began working for the department.

The workers’ compensation judge apparently gave great weight to the testimony

of Landreneau’s doctor, Dr. Frank Bacque. When asked whether Landreneau’s work

as a firefighter had any role in the development of his bladder cancer, he indicated that

he would “have a hard time proving anything like that.” When pressed for his

opinion, the doctor responded that he did not think that Washington, Louisiana,

suffered from the type of major fires on a recurring basis that are usually associated

with this particular occupational hazard. Moreover, the doctor testified that in his

twenty-one years of urology practice in the Lafayette area, he has never treated

another firefighter with the same type of cancer.

While Landreneau established that there is a possibility that he contracted the

disease as a result of his employment, the evidence presented supports the workers’

compensation judge’s finding that Landreneau failed to establish a reasonable

probability that he contracted bladder cancer as a result of his employment. Thus, this

assignment of error lacks merit.

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DECREE

For the foregoing reasons, the decision of the workers’ compensation judge is

affirmed. All costs of these proceedings are taxed to appellant, James Landreneau.

AFFIRMED.

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