Voluntary Payment of Benefits

There is a provision in the Louisiana Workers’ Compensation Act which provides that the voluntary payment of benefits is not an admission of liability that benefits are owed (23:1204).  But does this really mean what it says?

The Louisiana Supreme Court should give us a definitive answer to this question as it granted a writ filed by this office and requested additional briefing and will set the matter for oral argument.  In Lealon Johnson v AECOM Amentun Government Services, the employer voluntarily initiated the payment of indemnity benefits after the claim had prescribed (more than one year had lapsed from the date of the accident with no suit being filed or indemnity benefits paid).  Once the indemnity benefits that had been voluntarily initiated were stopped, Johnson filed a Disputed Claim for Compensation.  In response, the employer filed an exception of prescription arguing that the claim was untimely since more than one year had passed since the date of the accident with no payment of indemnity benefits and no suit being filed.  The trial court denied the exception finding that the payment of indemnity benefits after the claim had prescribed was a renunciation of the accrued prescription citing civil code articles 3449 and 3450.  In essence, rendering the protections that the voluntary payment of benefits could not be considered an admission of liability that benefits were owed found at R.S. 23:1204 meaningless.

The Third Circuit Court of Appeal denied the employer’s writ application but on May 6, 2025 the Louisiana Supreme Court granted the writ by a 7 – 0 vote and requested additional briefing and will set the matter for oral argument.  Hopefully, the Supreme Court will reverse the lower courts and make it clear that when we voluntarily pay a benefit that it will not be used against us in later proceedings.  If not, then there would be reason for us to ever voluntarily make a payment as it could come back to haunt us.