Opinion
No. 09 0643-WCA.
April 7, 2010.
Appealed from Office of Workers' Compensation — # 4 Case No. 06-05862.
Larry Lane Roy, Preis Roy, Lafayette LA.
BEFORE JUDGES: Hon. ULYSSES GENE THIBODEAUX, Hon. SYLVIA R. COOKS, Hon. JOHN D. SAUNDERS.
As counsel of record in the captioned case, you are hereby notified that the application for rehearing filed by Lafayette Parish School Board has this day been
DENIED.
Cooks, J., dissents and assigns written reasons.
cc: Janice Hebert Barber, Counsel for the Appellee
ON REHEARING
The School Board filed an application for rehearing, asserting our original opinion failed to address its assignment of error that the trial court erred in finding it arbitrary and capricious in terminating Mr. Montgomery's benefits. I would vote to grant rehearing solely for the limited purpose of clarifying our original opinion, wherein we specifically noted the School Board's arbitrary and capricious acts in wrongfully terminating benefits. We noted, among other things, that Ms. Herron, Mr. Montgomery's vocational rehabilitation counselor, failed to contact the two security jobs in question to verify availability. We also stated it was unreasonable for Ms. Herron not to further investigate exactly what physical requirements the State mandated training courses required. Further, Ms. Herron acknowledged she failed to discuss transportation issues with Mr. Montgomery, which the workers' compensation judge expressly believed was an issue of concern. For these reasons, we found the judgment of the Office of Workers' Compensation was correct in all aspects, including the awards of penalties and attorney fees. I would decline to award counsel for Mr. Montgomery's request for additional attorney fees for having to respond to this Rehearing Application.