Stacy v. Great Lakes Agri Mktg. - 276 Neb. 236, 753 N.W.2d 785 (2008)

Rule:

In order to recover under the Nebraska Workers' Compensation Act, Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 48-101 to 48-1,117 (Reissue 2004, Cum. Supp. 2006 & Supp. 2007), a claimant has the burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence that an accident or occupational disease arising out of and occurring in the course of employment proximately caused an injury which resulted in disability compensable under the Act. A proximate cause is a cause that produces a result in a natural and continuous sequence and without which the result would not have occurred.

Facts:

Appellant claimant was employed by the appellee employer when he sustained an injury in the course of and arising out of his employment. The claimant was removing a part from a tractor when a piece of metal struck him near the right knee, causing a nondisplaced fracture of his medial condyle. The claimant developed deep vein thrombosis in his right leg, and it was not disputed that the claimant required anticoagulation therapy for the foreseeable future. In an action against appellee employer, the Nebraska Workers' Compensation Court found a scheduled member injury, and not an injury to the claimant's body as a whole. The claimant challenged the decision. 

Issue:

Did the claimant’s deep vein thrombosis and reflex sympathetic dystrophy result in impairment only to a scheduled member? 

Answer:

Yes.

Conclusion:

The reviewing court held that the evidence was sufficient to support the finding of a scheduled member injury. Neither the medical testimony nor the claimant's own testimony established an impairment to the body as a whole. While the basic principles of causation on which the claimant relied were sound, the evidence was sufficient to support the determination that the claimant's deep vein thrombosis and reflex sympathetic dystrophy resulted in impairment only to a scheduled member.