Single day of exposure may exacerbate condition, result in compensable disability

The Wisconsin Court of Appeals upheld the Labor and Industry Review Commission's decision that the claimant was entitled to workers' compensation benefits for the aggravation of a preexisting neck condition.

Case name: County Concrete Corp. n/k/a County Materials Corp., et al. v. Labor and Industry Review Commission, et al., No. 2007AP864 (Wis. Ct. App. 10/15/08).

What it means: The fact that a claimant is engaged in duties outside of her normal workload for only one day does not prevent her from receiving compensation when a preexisting condition is exacerbated by those extraordinary activities. Courts focus on whether the exposure or activities materially contributed to the onset or progression of the claimant's disability.

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Summary: A showroom manager developed pain in her neck, shoulder and arm after unloading and hanging rock and stone samples for about a day. She underwent two surgeries on her spine and was released to work. Although the claimant had neck problems that preexisted the industrial injury, she had not seen a physician for those problems for more than a year before the industrial injury occurred. The Court of Appeals agreed with a lower court that the claimant's activities in setting up the showroom were a "material contributory causative factor in the progression of her pre-existing neck condition." As a result, her disability was compensable.

In reviewing the medical evidence, the LIRC acknowledged that the claimant's exposure to unusual exertion was brief and that she previously exhibited symptoms of a neck disorder. However, it pointed out that the claimant had not been treated for that disorder for over a year before setting up the showroom, and that her condition became "significantly worse after the showroom set up; she ultimately required surgery."

The Court of Appeals rejected the employer's contention that a single day of work exposure could not constitute either an appreciable period of exposure or a material contributory causative factor in the progression of a preexisting neck condition. It cited the LIRC's reasoning that "the law does not require some minimum period of employment exposure or work activity as a matter of law before the exposure may become compensable."

November 20, 2008

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