Seidel v. Zatarains, Inc., 05-780, 927 So. 2d 557 (La. App. 5 Cir. 03/28/06).
Claims for penalties and attorney fees for the non-payment of benefits are subject to the liberative prescriptive period of one year.
The Facts
Without providing specific dates, the opinion tells us that the employee filed a 1008 seeking penalties and attorney’s fees for the alleged late payment of medical expenses and prescription expenses. The claim was filed within three years of the last payment of medical expenses but more than one year after the date that the alleged late payment.
The Dispute
The employer contended that the claim for penalties and attorney’s fees had prescribed because it was filed more than a year after the alleged late payment. The employee argued that the claim for penalties and attorney’s fees for the late payment of medical expenses was connected with plaintiff’s claim for medical benefits. Therefore, he argued that the claim was subject to the three year prescriptive period from the date of the last payment of medical expenses.
The Trial Court Decision
The trial court held that, because the Louisiana Workers’ Compensation Act does not include a prescriptive period for penalties and attorney’s fees, the general liberative prescriptive period of one year applies. Therefore, the court dismissed the employee’s claim for penalties and attorney’s fees as prescribed.