 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Employee Leasing Services in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
In re Appeal of Bergeron3/16/2000
Compensation Appeals Board
The petitioner, Raymond Bergeron, appeals a decision of the New Hampshire Compensation Appeals Board (board) denying him workers' compensation benefits from respondent Richards & Sons, Inc., his prior employer, for medical expenses related to his 1996 hip replacement surgery. He argues that the board erred when it concluded that his condition necessitating the surgery resulted from either cumulative trauma or the aggravation or exacerbation of a pre-existing condition. We vacate and remand.
We recite the facts as found by the board or as presented in the record. In 1985, the petitioner was employed by the respondent as a carpenter. On October 4, 1985, while returning to the work site after a break, he fell, injuring his neck, left ankle, and left hip. After missing approximately ten months of work, the petitioner returned to his job in July 1986. During his absence from work, the petitioner was treated by several doctors, underwent physical therapy, and received workers' compensation benefits, which the respondent's insurer voluntarily paid. The petitioner subsequently left his employment with the respondent and later became self-employed as a carpenter. Nothing in the record indicates that the petitioner sought further medical treatment for his hip until he was examined for left hip pain in 1994. Two years later, he underwent recommended hip replacement surgery.
The petitioner filed a workers' compensation claim against the respondent, asserting that his hip condition was a consequence of his 1985 work injury. A department of labor hearing officer denied his claim, and after a de novo hearing, the board concurred. After reciting minimal factual findings, the board ruled:
The burden of proof is on the claimant to prove that the 1985 fall caused his 1994 disability. The medical evidence will support, at least in part, that the 1985 incident caused his 1994 disability. There is some conflicting medical evidence.
As for the legal causation as stated in [Appeal of Briggs, 138 N.H. 623, 645 A.2d 655 (1994)], the Board was faced with the fact that the claimant did not treat with Dr. Sterns from April 18, 1986 until he saw Leo M. Kinney, D. O. on April 21, 1994, when he was self-employed as a carpenter. In the case of [Appeal of Briggs] it stated that cumulative trauma does not result in injuries under workers' compensation law until the employee is unable to continue working, and the same rule applies where the claimant has a pre-existing condition not caused but rather aggravated or exacerbated by cumulative work-related activities. It further states that the Workers' Compensation Statute requires that when the claimant is exposed to cumulative trauma resulting in disability, the employer at the time the disability arises bears the burden of any workers' compensation benefits owing, and therefore, the petitioner's most recent employer at the time of disability in 1994 was himself as a self-employed carpenter, and whether he had coverage or not, he was still working.
After an unsuccessful motion for reconsideration, the petitioner appealed.
On appeal, the petitioner argues that the board erred in concluding that his 1994 hip condition resulted either from cumulative trauma or an aggravation or exacerbation of a pre-existing condition. He contends that under RSA 281-A:23, I (1999), the respondent is liable for the costs related to the 1996 surgery because it is responsible for any medical treatment related to the 1985 injury, and that the medical evidence conclusively established that his 1994 hip condition directly and naturally resulted from the 1985 injury. We will not disturb the board's decision
Page 1 2 3 4 New Hampshire Employee Leasing Services
Employee Leasing Services
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Employee Leasing Services in your area.
|
|