344 So.2d at 1181. Likewise, the defendants point to Quine v. Ideal Cement Co., 351 So.2d 1303 (La.App. 1st Cir.1977), writ denied,353 So.2d 1035 (La.1978), in which the court, although it found the plaintiff had failed to prove causation with regard to her hearing loss, nonetheless recognized that “[i]t is only necessary that the accidental injury be caused or precipitated by the usual or customary actions, exertion, or other factors directly connected with employment.” Our jurisprudence interpreting what constitutes a compensable “accident” under the LWCA has been well settled, and as we have pointed out, causation is the lynchpin in determining whether an act is covered.
McCoy v. Kroger Co., 431 So.2d 824, 827 (La.App. 2nd Cir. 1933) ("In our view the current jurisprudential definition is such that an "accident" has occurred within the meaning of the compensation act when the conditions of employment provide continual strain or trauma, as here, or exposure, as in Parks, and these events cumulatively combine to aggravate a pre-existing condition so as to disable the employee.") In its Reply Brief, Firestone cites two cases Quine v. Ideal Cement Co., 351 So.2d 1303 (La.App. 1st Cir. 1977) and Chtelain v. American Can Co., 344 So.2d 1180 (La.App. 4th Cir. 1977), which purportedly show that hearing loss was an injury by "accident" under the pre-1989 statute; however, we are not persuaded that these cases are instructive in determining whether the claims at issue in this case arise from "accidents." In Quine v. Ideal Cement Co., the court of appeals dismissed a worker's claim for compensation benefits.
Appellant cites four cases that, it argues, represent that occupational hearing-loss could be an accident under LWCA. Each case, however, is distinguishable. While two of the cases, Chatelain v. American Can Co., 344 So. 2d 1180 (La. App. Ct. 1977) and Quine v. Ideal Cement Co., 351 So. 2d 1303 (La. App. Ct. 1977), explain that physical strain is not needed for an injury to be considered an "accident" under the LWCA and that regular workplace conditions can cause or contribute to an "accident," in each of those cases the plaintiff complained of hearing loss during the period of employment—that is, there was an acute, identifiable occurrence of injury. The Louisiana Supreme Court has explained that sudden manifestations of an injury—like a heart attack or stroke—are "accidents" even if there they are the culmination of a chronic condition.
The claimant must show more than a possibility that the disability was caused by or aggravated by the employment. Bruney v. City of Lake Charles, 386 So.2d 950 (La.App. 3rd Cir. 1980); Quine v. Ideal Cement Co., 351 So.2d 1303 (La.App. 1st Cir. 1977), writ denied, 353 So.2d 1035 (La. 1978). As in any other civil suit, the plaintiff in a workmen's compensation case has the burden of establishing the disability and the causal relation between it and the accident by a preponderance of the evidence.
This rule is applicable to workmen's compensation accidents. Quine v. Ideal Cement Company, 351 So.2d 1303 (La.App. 1st Cir. 1977), writ denied, 353 So.2d 1035 (La. 1978). At the trial of the exception of prescription, Mougeot's called Dr. Christopher, Paul Mougeot and Victor Mougeot as witnesses.
The claimant must show more than a possibility that the disability was caused by or aggravated by the employment. Quine v. Ideal Cement Co., 351 So.2d 1303 (La.App. 1st Cir. 1977), writ den., 353 So.2d 1035 (La. 1978). It is well established that the burden of proof in a workmen's compensation claim is not relaxed.
Also see LeLeux, supra; Roussel v. Colonial Sugars Company, 318 So.2d 37 (La., 1975); and Jacob v. Godchaux-Henderson Sugar Co., Inc., 350 So.2d 274 (La.App. 4 Cir. 1977) writ denied 352 So.2d 238. Compare Quine v. Ideal Cement Co., 351 So.2d 1303 (La.App. 1 Cir. 1977) writ denied 353 So.2d 1035. The testimony of Ms. Small, which was corroborated by her daughter, the history given to Dr. Chicola, the latter's testimony, and that of Dr. Craig, was that her vascular accident had its commencement during her working hours on Monday.