Louisiana Personal Injury Lawyer Blog
“My neck, my back, my neck and my back” is a cliche that has been used in television shows and movies when someone gets hurt in an accident and likely tends to file a lawsuit. Although Caddo Parish, Louisiana woman, Ruth Toliver, may not have used the exact phrase, she did fall on the job and filed for workers’ compensation benefits. After receiving a workers’ compensation settlement, she filed a lawsuit to recover for additional injuries. But whether Ms. Toliver could recover twice proved another matter.
While on the job working for Entergy Services, Inc (ESI), Ruth Toliver injured her neck and left shoulder when she fell from a three-foot high stepladder and hit the floor. She received workers’ compensation benefits shortly after the incident and continued to receive the benefits until they were terminated close to the end of 2010. Mrs. Toliver disputed the termination of benefits with the Office of Workers’ Compensation in January of 2011. Mrs. Toliver and ESI agreed to settle the matter for $58,909.93 that would be paid to Mrs. Toliver, plus all the related medical bills that she incurred prior to the date of settlement. The agreement provided that $43,909.93 of the settlement would be earmarked for a Medicare account for future medical bills. The total amount of workers’ compensation benefits that ESI paid Mrs. Toliver was $397,763.75.
The agreement released ESI from any and all liability for the work accident. About two years after signing the settlement agreement, Mrs. Toliver filed a lawsuit with the Louisiana Trial Court, claiming that in addition to her initial injuries, she also injured her head, right shoulder, and back in the fall. ESI objected to Mrs. Toliver’s lawsuit based on the settlement agreement. ESI argued that she was barred by claim preclusion because the settlement agreement was signed into a final order of approval and dismissal. The Trial Court agreed and Mrs. Toliver appealed the decision.
Sometimes we are asked to do a task at work that we do not feel qualified to perform. We think things like, “Hey, that wasn’t in my job description.” Well, that’s essentially what happened to Mark Barto but, unfortunately, attempting to perform his assigned task resulted in a back injury that led Mr. Barto to file a lawsuit.
Employees can pit employers against each other just like children do with parents. If permission is limited by one person the employee/child will simply repeat their request to the other party. What an employee is permitted to do can be ambiguous. In a recent automobile accident case out of Shreveport however, the Louisiana Second Circuit Court of Appeal affirmed that employer “permission” in Louisiana provides a wide berth to an employee and can result in unexpected liability. 
On the sea, a life jacket can save your life. In the courtroom, the life jacket that can save your case is provable and relevant facts. Seaman, Frank Glaze, recently found this to be true when a Louisiana Court dismissed his Jones Act personal injury case due to a lack of evidence.
An accident at the workplace is never fun, not for the employer, and certainly not for the employee. In addition to the difficulty of the injury itself, determining who pays for the medical treatment is often in dispute. Whether there is enough evidence to show that the accident actually caused the injury helps a judge decide if the employer is required to pay. This connection may also play into whether the payment will be limited to a $750 cap.
Over the last few years, we have all seen the videos of police arrest that seem to involve excessive methods. These videos stoke controversy and encourage a discussion on what constitutes “excessive force” during an arrest. Even with video evidence, the actions of the police and the arrestee are subject to multiple interpretations. The search for the truth becomes even harder when the arrest is not videoed and the participants all give different testimony on those events. The following case out of Shreveport Louisiana demonstrates how the Civil court system handles differing testimony on allegations of excessive force during an arrest.
In the world of workers’ compensation, being injured while on the job is an obvious requirement. Things tend to get muddled however in these cases over accident dates, pre-existing injuries, and the actual cause of the injury. In the following case, Carlos Harvey had all these things working against him in his claim for workers’ compensation benefits against his employer Sol’s Pipe & Steel (“Sol’s”). 
Navigating an ERISA disability insurance claim through the courts can be a difficult task. The best ERISA disability isurance claim lawyers can help be your guide to ensure your rights are protected. The following case that arises out of the Federal Court system in New Orleans demonstrates the issues that can arise when you fail to timely provide the required documents to prove your case and your insurer denies your disability claim.
When going to the nail salon, the last thing anyone thinks about is falling and getting seriously injured. Slip and fall accidents happen all the time, and it is important to gather as much evidence as possible and retain a good personal injury attorney in order to build the best possible case for yourself. The courts do not look favorably on those who make a claim and have very little evidence to back it up, as Pamela Burnett (“Ms. Burnett”) discovered when trying to win damages from the Lucky Nails salon.
In any personal injury lawsuit, it is absolutely critical that the plaintiff documents his or her injuries and gather evidence in support of legal claims. In addition to establishing that the defendant breached a duty of care, personal injury plaintiffs must also prove – through medical testimony and documentation – that it was more probable than not that the accident at issue caused their injuries.