Liberty Northwest Insurance v. Kaleta

20 P.3d 256, 173 Or. App. 82
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedMarch 14, 2001
DocketWCB 98-03898, 98-02289; CA A105641
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 20 P.3d 256 (Liberty Northwest Insurance v. Kaleta) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Oregon primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Liberty Northwest Insurance v. Kaleta, 20 P.3d 256, 173 Or. App. 82 (Or. Ct. App. 2001).

Opinion

WOLLHEIM, J.

In this workers’ compensation case, Davidson’s Masonry (Davidson’s) seeks review of a Workers’ Compensation Board order setting aside its denial of responsibility for claimant’s bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome. Davidson’s argues that the Board erred in its application of the last injurious exposure rule to determine responsibility. Claimant cross-petitions for review and argues that the Board erred in awarding attorney fees under ORS 656.308(2)(d) rather than ORS 656.307(5). We affirm on the petition and the cross-petition.

The facts are not in dispute. Claimant worked as a caulker for Pardue Restoration (Pardue) in its masonry business from 1994 to September 1997. His job duties included caulking, masonry restoration, and masonry concrete work. His work at Pardue required him to use manual caulking guns and power tools involving significant vibration. While working at Pardue, claimant occasionally experienced numbness in his hands, but he never sought treatment nor missed work due to his hands.

In September 1997, Pardue loaned claimant to Davidson’s to help it with a masonry job at the Lincoln County Jail. Claimant performed essentially the same duties for Davidson’s as he had performed at Pardue. Claimant’s employment with Davidson’s lasted approximately four weeks. However, during those four weeks, claimant’s symptoms worsened. He also began getting a painful burning sensation in his fingers. Claimant decided to seek medical treatment for his symptoms when his four weeks of employment with Davidson’s ended and he could return home.

On October 20,1997, claimant went back to work for Pardue. His symptoms remained the same but did not worsen during that one day. After work that same night, claimant sought medical treatment. He was diagnosed with bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome. Claimant filed workers’ compensation claims with both Pardue and Davidson’s. Pardue twice denied responsibility for claimant’s bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome, once in January 1998 and again in February 1998. Davidson’s also denied responsibility for that [85]*85condition in May 1998. Both Pardue and Davidson’s specifically requested the designation of a paying agent under ORS 656.307;1 however, one was never issued.

Claimant sought review of the insurers’ denials of responsibility for his bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome. The administrative law judge (ALJ) concluded that, under the last injurious exposure rule, Pardue was initially responsible. The ALJ further concluded that Pardue could not shift responsibility backwards because Pardue could not prove (1) that claimant’s four weeks at Davidson’s were the sole cause of his condition, or (2) that it was impossible for claimant’s one day of work at Pardue to have contributed to his condition. Therefore, the ALJ set aside Pardue’s denial and upheld Davidson’s denial. The ALJ also held that attorney fees were proper under ORS 656.307(5)2 and not ORS 656.308(2)(d),3 despite the absence of a 307 order.4

Pardue sought review by the Board of that order. The Board reversed the decision of the ALJ, set aside Davidson’s denial and upheld Pardue’s denial. In doing so, the Board stated:

“We also agree with the ALJ that, because claimant sought first sought treatment while working for Pardue, SAIF is initially responsible. Timm [v. Maley], 125 Or App [396], 401[, 865 P2d 1315 (1993), rev den 319 Or 81 (1994)]. [86]*86Only Dr. Gardner and Dr. Weller assess contribution between claimant’s 1994-97 employment with Pardue, Davidson’s, and the subsequent single day of work at Pardue. Because both physicians indicate that the October 20 employment at Pardue did not ‘pathologically worsen’ claimant’s condition, we find their opinions sufficient to establish that prior employment with Davidson and the 1994-97 exposure with Pardue was the sole cause of claimant’s carpal tunnel syndrome. Thus, responsibility shifts from [Pardue] to [Davidson’s]. See Roseburg Forest Products v. Long, 325 Or 305, 313[, 937 P2d 517] (1997).”

The Board also reversed the part of the ALJ’s order awarding attorney fees under ORS 656.307(5). The Board based its decision on the fact that there was no 307 order and, thus, ORS 656.307(5) did not apply. Rather, the Board awarded a $1,000 attorney fee under ORS 656.308(2)(d), because claimant’s attorney finally prevailed against Davidson’s responsibility denial and actively and meaningfully participated in the proceeding.

On review, Davidson’s contends that the Board applied the wrong legal test for shifting responsibility under the last injurious exposure rule. “As a rule of assignment of responsibility, the last injurious exposure rule assigns full responsibility to the last employer that could have caused the claimant’s injury.” Long, 325 Or at 309. “[T]he function of the last injurious exposure rule is to ‘spread[ ] liability fairly among employers by the law of averages and * * * reduc[e] litigation.’ ” Id. at 314, citing Bracke v. Baza’r, 293 Or 239, 248, 646 P2d 1330 (1982). However,

“an employer that otherwise would be responsible under the last injurious exposure rule may avoid responsibility if it proves either: (1) that it was impossible for conditions at its workplace to have caused the disease in this particular case or (2) that the disease was caused solely by conditions at one or more previous employments.”Long, 325 Or at 313.

Davidson’s argues that the Board erred when it applied a “pathological worsening” standard, and we should remand to the Board with instructions to apply the impossibility standard for determining whether claimant’s one day at work with Pardue contributed to his bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome. We disagree.

[87]*87The Board correctly determined that Pardue was initially responsible under the last injurious exposure rule because claimant first sought treatment after working at Pardue on October 20,1997. Timm, 125 Or App at 401 (“If a claimant receives treatment for a compensable condition before experiencing time loss due to the condition, the date that the claimant first began to receive treatment related to the compensable condition is determinative for the purpose of assigning initial responsibility for the claim, unless the subsequent employment contributes independently to the cause or worsening of the condition.”).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
20 P.3d 256, 173 Or. App. 82, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/liberty-northwest-insurance-v-kaleta-orctapp-2001.