Calif. High Court Upholds WC 2nd Injury Restriction

The California Supreme Court has upheld a provision of the state's 2004 workers' compensation reform legislation defining the limits of an employer's responsibility when the injured employee has a prior medical condition.

On Friday, the court refused to take up the appeal of an injured electrician whose comp disability award was partially reduced because he had an arthritic condition prior to his injury on the job.

By denying an appeal, the high court affirmed the ruling that an employer is not responsible for permanent disability it did not cause.

The case, Larry Gossett vs. WCAB and Morrow-Meadows Corporation, questioned whether an employer is responsible for all of an injured worker's permanent disability where there was preexisting arthritis, but the injured worker had no symptoms for many years before his 2003 workers' compensation injury.

A workers' compensation arbitrator initially ruled that part of the injury could not be apportioned to the prior condition and it did not apply. He awarded Mr. Gossett 76 percent disability.

The Workers' Compensation Appeals Board, on appeal, overturned the arbitrator's award and issued one allocating 15 percent of the permanent disability to the pre-existing arthritis.

When his award was reduced to 65 percent, Mr. Gossett then appealed the new WCAB award, contending there should be no apportionment of the permanent disability because there were no symptoms in nearly ten years before the recent injury.

The Court of Appeal rejected Mr. Gossett's argument and the Supreme Court on Wednesday subsequently refused to grant the Petition for Review.

According to the attorney who represented the employer at trial, Kent Ball, the ruling upholds a portion of California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's 2004 workers' compensation reform package,

"The Supreme Court, in affirming the lower court's decision, is placing a stamp of approval on the 2004 reforms," Mr. Ball said.

In its ruling, the court allocated responsibility to the employer for only that portion of the injury which the employer caused.

"It's basically a fairness concept and encourages California employers to hire the disabled, those with prior injuries, even the elderly, without concern of liability for pathology which was not caused on their watch," he said.