California Supreme Court Again Supports Schwarzenegger's Workers Comp Reform

Holding an Employer is Only Responsible for the Amount of Disability It Causes
 
San Francisco, CA (CompNewsNetwork) - The California Supreme Court has rejected an appeal of an injured electrician, thereby affirming the lower court's 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. 

The workers' compensation arbitrator initially ruled that apportionment did not apply and awarded Gossett 76% disability.  The employer appealed the award.   The Workers' Compensation Appeals Board (WCAB), on appeal, overturned the arbitrator's award and issued an award allocating 15% of the permanent disability to the pre-existing arthritis.  Gossett then appealed the new WCAB award of 65% 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 Gossett's argument and the Supreme Court on Wednesday subsequently refused to grant the Petition for Review.

This case is yet another example of Governor Schwarzenegger's comprehensive workers' compensation reform package of 2004 through Senate Bill 899.  The California legislature and the governor recognized the inequities in the system and SB 899 corrected many.

One of the inequities was the concept of apportionment, that is, assigning responsibility for an injury based on causation.  The Supreme Court, in affirming the lower courts decision, is placing a stamp of approval on the 2004 reforms.  In Gossett's case, the Court recognized the severe arthritis from a prior knee injury and allocated a portion of the permanent disability award to the prior pathology, even though there were no symptoms for many years before the recent knee injury and Gossett was able to continue his job as an electrician.  The Court, in it's ruling, allocated responsibility to the employer by only that 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,” said Kent Ball of Bradford & Barthel, the law firm which represented the employer at trial and through all of the appeals.  “We're pleased the Supreme Court recognized that the lower court properly followed the new apportionment laws and allocated responsibility accordingly.  This is a significant concept from the governor's 2004 reforms and the Court's actions should make many California employers very happy.”

Bradford & Barthel, LLP is a California statewide law firm specializing in the defense of employers and insurance companies in workers' compensation litigation.