CALIFORNIA COMPENSATION CASES Vol. 89, No. 7 July 2024 A Report of En Banc and Significant Panel Decisions of the WCAB and Selected Court Opinions of Related Interest, With a Digest of WCAB Decisions...
Havanis v. Calif. Dept. of Transportation (Board Panel Decision) By Hon. Colleen Casey, Former Commissioner, California Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board I. Medical apportionment is not the...
By Robert G. Rassp, author of The Lawyer’s Guide to the AMA Guides and California Workers’ Compensation (LexisNexis) Disclaimer: The material and any opinions contained in this treatise are...
Oakland, CA – Private self-insured claim volume in the California workers' compensation system fell 9.5% in 2023, producing the biggest year-to-year decline in private self-insured claim frequency...
By Hon. Susan V. Hamilton, Former Assistant Secretary and Deputy Commissioner, California Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board No matter the source of your media consumption, it seems that the topic...
The court of appeals affirmed an award of total disability benefits against the second injury fund benefits based in part on claimant's significant pre-existing psychiatric disabilities. Blackshear v Adecco, ED 100251 (Mo. App. 2014), 2014 MO App Lexis 157 (2-18-2014) (lexis.com) 2014 MO App Lexis 157 (2-18-2014) (Lexis Advance).Claimant had been employed in 2005 only about 11 weeks as a customer service representative when she sat in a broken chair in a lunchroom and hurt her back. Claimant had about a 20 year history of psychiatric problems which one expert identified as bi-polar disorder, PTSD, personality disorder, anxiety disorder and phobias which impaired her ability to maintain employment. The employer provided more than 1/4 million in medical and TTD benefits until claimant reached MMI in 2010, nearly 5 years later.The Fund argued the last accident alone rendered claimant totally disabled, and that the Commission failed to first make a determination of disability from the last accident alone and that its opinion of SIF liability was not based on substantial evidence. The court rejected both propositions.The Commission made a specific finding that the last accident rendered claimant 85% partially disabled and not totally disabled before assessing Fund liability. It specifically found the total disability flowed from a combination. The Fund argued that Dr. Volarich supported an opinion that the last accident alone rendered claimant totally disabled when he imposed onerous restrictions such as a need to rest in recumbent positions. A psychiatrist testified claimant after the accident developed or worsened 4 new psychiatric conditions. Claimant asserted before the accident she was "fine."The court rejected the proposition that substantial evidence did not support a total against the Fund based on vocational and psychiatric evidence. The commission may rely upon experts that provide opinions only within their specialty and are not compelled to follow experts who purport to consider the entirety of claimant's disability. "The fact that these doctors [psychiatrists] did not provide an opinion as to Claimant's physical impairments does not render their conclusions as to Claimant's psychiatric conditions less relevant." It is "simply not required" to only consider expert opinion which addresses the totality of various medical conditions. The court further notes that Dr. Volarich deferred on the issue of psychiatric opinion. "The Commission can and must be able to accept an expert's testimony in his area of expertise and then assess and weigh the collective evidence when making its determination "The ALJ awarded an additional $94,000 in benefits against the employer with open medical for orthopedic and psychiatric conditions for the 41 year old claimant. 2013 MO WCLR Lexis 111 (July 3, 2013) (lexis.com) 2013 MO WCLR Lexis 111 (July 3, 2013) (Lexis Advance).
Source: Martin Klug, Huck, Howe & Tobin. Read Martin Klug’s Mo. Workers’ Comp Alerts.
_____________________________________________________________________