Gunn v. Robertson
Louisiana Court of Appeals
801 So.2d 555 (2001)
Randall Gunn (plaintiff) was involved in a minor, low-speed collision with Robertson (defendant), and was later diagnosed with a chronic spinal defect potentially triggered by the accident requiring surgery; Gunn and his family sued for general damages, medical expenses, lost wages, and loss of earning capacity, along with a loss of consortium claim, and the jury found Robertson 70% at fault and Randall 30% at fault, awarding only $1,000 for pain and suffering, $1,700 for past medical expenses, and $5,400 in lost wages, with nothing for future medical expenses, future lost earning capacity, or loss of consortium. Both sides appealed the damages and fault allocation.
Whether a negligent defendant must pay for all of a plaintiff's medical treatment unless incurred in bad faith; whether recovering future medical expenses requires medical testimony proving the costs are necessary and inevitable with some degree of certainty; whether recovering actual lost wages requires proof of time missed from work and past lost earnings; and whether proving future loss of earning capacity requires medical evidence establishing, to a reasonable degree of certainty, that a disability was causally related to the accident.