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Taranto v. Stranco1/29/2002
APPEAL TRANSFERRED
Having found that the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal does not have jurisdiction over this matter, we transfer this appeal to the Louisiana First Circuit Court of Appeal.
This is a workers' compensation matter that was originally filed in Workers' Compensation District 9, the district corresponding to the claimant's domicile at the time of filing (St. Charles Parish). Prior to trial, by Joint Motion to Transfer, the parties requested that matter be transferred to District 6. The parties asserted that 1) the claimant's domicile at the time of the accident was St. Tammany Parish; 2) the injuries that form the basis of this dispute occurred in St. Tammany Parish; and 3) the employer's principal place of business is located in St. Tammany Parish. The matter was heard before a Workers' Compensation Judge in District 6. The Workers' Compensation Judge ruled in favor of the employer and the employee, Mr. Taranto, who filed a Motion for Devolutive Appeal. The Motion for Appeal requested that the appeal be returnable to the First Circuit Court of Appeal. The First Circuit's language is crossed out in the submitted Motion and Order and "Fifth Circuit" is written in. For the reasons set forth below we transfer this appeal to the Louisiana First Circuit Court of Appeal.
In workers' compensation matters, LSA-R.S. 23:1310.4 controls the situs or venue of the proceedings. It reads, in pertinent part:
ยง 1310.4. Place hearings to be held
A. (1) At the time a claim is initiated with the director, the claimant shall elect the situs of necessary hearings by the workers' compensation judge.
(2) If the claimant is a domiciliary of the state of Louisiana, he shall be required to elect either the judicial district of the parish of his domicile at the time he sustained his injury, the judicial district of the parish where the injury occurred, or the judicial district of the parish of the principal place of business of the employer.
B. After the election has been made as provided above, all future hearings affecting the claimant's case shall be held in the judicial district so designated unless the workers' compensation judge, upon agreement by the claimant and the employer, shall transfer such cause for hearing to any other judicial district agreed upon. In addition, hearings may be held in any location if the workers' compensation judge determines that good cause has been shown.
Further, RS 23:1310.5 sets forth the procedure for taking an appeal from a ruling made by the workers' compensation judge:
(2) Either party feeling aggrieved by such order, decision, or award shall, after receipt by certified mail of the order, decision, or award, have the right to take an appeal to the circuit court of appeal for the judicial district elected by the claimant upon the filing of the petition. The motion and order for appeal shall be filed with the district office assigned to handle the claim, which shall be responsible for preparation of the record for the appellate court.
The statutory language in both LSA-R.S. 23:1310.4 and LSA-R.S. 23:1310.5 makes references to an election of a situs or venue by the claimant. LSA-R.S. 23:1310.4 A(2) requires a claimant who is a domiciliary of the State of Louisiana to elect one of three possible venues: 1) The Judicial District of the Parish of his domicile at the time of injury; 2) the Judicial District of the Parish where the injury occurred; or 3) the Judicial District of the Parish of the principle place of business of the employer. It is clear that the claimant's domicile at the time of the injury is controlling, not his domicile at the time he files a cl
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