Recent Development by Sean M. Toomey
Michelle O'Regan worked for Preferred Enterprises (Preferred), a commercial dry cleaner and laundry business, for three months in 1990; three years later she was diagnosed with myelodysplasia, a type of aplastic anemia. At that time, Mrs. O'Regan filed a workers' compensation claim in which she alleged that the disease was contracted as the result of exposure to hazardous chemicals during her employment with Preferred. The hearing officer found that Mrs. O'Regan failed to prove by an “overwhelming preponderance of the evidence” that her disease was caused by her employment with Preferred, as mandated by section 23:1031.1(D) of the Louisiana Revised Statutes. Mrs. O'Regan received no compensation. The Louisiana Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal affirmed that decision and it is now final.
After Mrs. O'Regan was denied relief under the Louisiana Workers' Compensation Act, she brought suit in district court against Preferred and several other defendants connected with the design, production, and distribution of the dangerous chemicals used by Preferred. She sought damages arising from theories of negligence, intentional tort, and strict liability. In response, Preferred filed a motion for summary judgment of all claims based on negligence, arguing that relief through the Workers' Compensation Act was Mrs. O'Regan's exclusive remedy for such claims. The trial court denied the motion, thus allowing her to proceed with her tort action. The Louisiana Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal affirmed that decision, finding that since Mrs. O'Regan was denied relief under workers' compensation, relief through tort law should be available. The Louisiana Supreme Court disagreed, reversed that decision, and held that the exclusive remedy for a claim of occupational disease as a result of an employer's negligence is the Workers' Compensation Act. Subsequently, the Louisiana Supreme Court granted rehearing, abandoned its previous judgment, and held that O'Regan was presumptively excluded from relief under the Worker's Compensation Act; thus O'Regan was free to seek relief via tort law. O'Regan v. Preferred Enterprises, Inc., 758 So. 2d 124, 139 (La. 2000).
About the Author
Sean M. Toomey.
Citation
75 Tul. L. Rev. 241 (2000)