Louisiana Personal Injury Lawyer Blog
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.
Ms. Mangiaracina, an employee with Avis Budget Group, injured her shoulder, back, and thumb, at her workplace when her office chair fell forward. Ms. Mangiaracina had a pre-existing injury to her left shoulder for which she was receiving medical treatment. This injury did not affect her ability to work, and after the accident, her doctors found that her shoulder worsened. She had surgery a few months later. An adjuster for Avis’ insurer determined that all of Ms. Mangiaracina injuries were considered pre-existing and did not make any payments for the medical expenses. Avis’ insurer responded to requests for payment by stating the need for the surgery was not related to the workers’ compensation claim.
As a result, Ms. Mangiaracina filed a disputed claim for compensation. The Office of Workers’ Compensation ruled for Ms. Mangiaracina and awarded her temporary total disability benefits on a weekly basis against Avis. The workers’ compensation judge decided that Ms. Mangiaracina did, in fact, sustain a work-related injury, that her pre-existing injury was actually aggravated by the accident and that the surgery was reasonable. The judge determined that she was disabled for three months after the surgery, and as a result awarded her all the related medical and transportation expenses against Avis.
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.
Evidence in a trial can take almost any shape or form. For murder trials, people think of weapons. For fraud cases, perhaps incriminating documents comes to mind. For a personal injury case, the options are almost limitless yet likely “flip flop” is not the first image that pops up; especially in a maritime case. Yet in this case, Garrard Myers makes quite the fuss over the state of his sandals.
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”). 
Underinsurance policies provide drivers an extra layer of protection. These policies compensate drivers for injuries suffered in accidents with uninsured or underinsured drivers, but the process of claiming under these policies can be problematic. Ted Luquette encountered this difficulty after he was injured in a car accident in Abbeville. 
Lawsuits that are rooted in car accidents are typically cut and dry; it is easy to determine the party at fault and to determine the party that should pay for the costs of damage. However, a case arising out of Monroe proves that this is not always the case. This perplexing lawsuit involves a situation in which the at-fault party was not covered under the vehicle’s insurance. 
It is often the case that although technically legal, certain lawsuits will not be popular amongst the general public because the court’s reasons for its decision just will not make sense at an emotional level. Despite this fact, people should take notice of the fact that courts rule based on what the law deems to be just and fair. This sort of a fact may only be small comfort to the Toups, who lost their son and want the party or parties responsible to be held accountable for the loss they suffered. 
A person may seek help from the federal court system when that person feels that they have been cheated or wronged.
Contract disputes can often be complicated when multiple parties and corporations are involved. Courts are forced to sort out multiple claims and counterclaims and figure out who is accountable for what. Even after a decision is made, there can be multiple appeals and judgments that a higher court is asked to review. In complicated cases, it’s common for mistakes to happen, as a case that landed in the Fifth Circuit will demonstrate, and the appeal process is available for parties to have their case double checked.
The difficulties of certifying a class for a class action lawsuit were highlighted in a case in which an Orleans Parish resident, Michelle Albe, disputed a speeding ticket imposed by the City of New Orleans Automated Traffic Enforcement System (“ATES”). Ms. Albe’s challenge was based on the wording of a delinquency notice she received, which contained the threat of ‘possible jail time’. Ms. Albe sought to include all recipients of the delinquency notice in a class action.