Mize v. Comcast Corp-AT & T Broadband

145 P.3d 315, 208 Or. App. 563, 2006 Ore. App. LEXIS 1583
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedOctober 11, 2006
Docket04-05568; A128708
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 145 P.3d 315 (Mize v. Comcast Corp-AT & T Broadband) 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
Mize v. Comcast Corp-AT & T Broadband, 145 P.3d 315, 208 Or. App. 563, 2006 Ore. App. LEXIS 1583 (Or. Ct. App. 2006).

Opinions

[565]*565EDMONDS, J.

The threshold issue in this case concerns the meaning of the phrase “in material part” in ORS 656.245(l)(a).1 Claimant seeks judicial review after the Workers’ Compensation Board (board) ruled that he had failed to meet his burden to show that his compensable injury was a material cause of his current need for treatment. In reaching its decision, the board reasoned that the word “material” in the above phrase required claimant to prove that his need for medical services resulted from something more than a “minor contribution” to his current condition by his compensable injury. We conclude that the board erred and therefore reverse and remand for reconsideration.

Claimant suffered a compensable injury to his knee in March 2002 when he fell from a vehicle while at work. After surgery by Dr. Rask to repair a medial meniscus tear, claimant’s claim was closed in March 2003 by a notice of closure that included awards of temporary and permanent disability. In January 2004, claimant returned to Rask, complaining that his knee condition had not fully resolved since the surgery. As a result of his examination of claimant’s knee, Rask recommended additional surgery. According to Rask’s medical report, the congenital anatomic configuration of claimant’s knee was the major contributing cause of his current need for medical treatment. However, Rask also opined,

“While the congenital anatomic configuration of [claimant’s] patella is the major cause of his need for treatment, his right knee injury of 3/5/2002, and the muscular atrophy and weakness that were caused by his injury contribute to his present need for treatment, and are a material cause of his need for the surgeries * * * propose [d].”

[566]*566(Emphasis added.) Rask commented, additionally, that “ ‘[m]aterial cause’ implies, in this case, a minor contribution.” (Emphasis in original.)

Employer denied claimant’s claims for medical services and for an aggravation of his compensable injury, and claimant sought to overturn that denial before an administrative law judge (ALJ). The ALJ upheld employer’s denial of the aggravation claim but overturned the current condition denial, reasoning that, to be eligible for medical treatment, the accepted condition need only be a material cause of claimant’s need for treatment. The ALJ also observed that there had been no claim for a consequential or combined condition that might give rise to a “major contributing cause” standard of proof for claimant. See ORS 656.245(1).

Employer appealed the ALJ’s order to the board, challenging the ALJ’s determination that set aside the denial of claimant’s claim for medical treatment.2 The board ruled that it did not need to determine whether claimant’s claim was subject to a “material” or “major” contributing cause standard of proof “because we find the evidence insufficient in either event.” Rather, the board reasoned that,

“for purposes of ORS 656.005(7)(a), a ‘material cause’ is a substantial cause, something more than minimal. See Van Blokland v. Oregon Health Sciences University, [87 Or App 694, 698, 743 P2d 1136 (1987)]; Summit v. Weyerhaeuser [Company, 25 Or App 851, 856, 551 P2d 490 (1976)]. Because Dr. Rask described ‘material’ in this case as implying, or meaning, ‘minor,’ we cannot say that the doctor’s ‘material cause’ conclusion establishes that the work injury was a substantial cause (more than minimal) of claimant’s condition, or his disability or need for treatment for that condition. Accordingly, absent persuasive evidence establishing material causation, we uphold the employer’s denial of claimant’s current condition.”

(Emphasis in original.)

On review, claimant argues that the board erred in its interpretation of the phrase “in material part” in ORS [567]*567656.245(l)(a). In his view, those words mean “having some logical connection with the consequential facts.” Employer responds that the board’s understanding of the meaning of the word “material” is consistent with our case law and that it refers to “a level of proof that establishes material cause as something more than minimal, but less than the only cause and less than primary cause.”

Initially, we conclude that the board’s reliance on Van Blokland and Summit is misplaced. In Van Blokland, the issue on de novo review was whether a weight loss program was a compensable medical service under the existing version of ORS 656.245(1), which provided that, “[f]or every compensable injury, the insurer * * * shall cause to be provided medical services for conditions resulting from the injury for such period as the nature of the injury or the process of recovery requires.” We stated,

“Claimant is entitled to treatment for the disabling results of a compensable injury, even if pre-existing and continuing obesity contributes to the disability. The compensable injury need not be the sole cause or the most significant cause of the need for treatment, but only a material contributing cause.”

87 Or App at 698 (internal citations omitted).

The issue in Summit was whether on de novo review, the claimant’s heart attack was work related, that is, whether the claimant had proved by a preponderance of the evidence that a compensable injury had occurred. The record contained conflicting medical reports on that issue. Exercising our fact-finding function, we adopted the referee’s analysis, which stated, in part:

“The test for determining medical causation is whether the stress of exertion connected with decedent’s job was a materially contributing factor to his later disabling condition, Coday v. Willamette Tug & Barge, 250 Or 39, 440 P2d 224 (1968); Mayes v. Compensation Dept., 1 Or App 234, 461 P2d 841 (1969). * * *
* * * ‡
“ ‘Next, considering the question of medical causation; while work activity must have more than a minimal effect, [568]*568Cardwell v. SAIF, 6 Or App 175, 486 P2d 587 (1971), it is only necessary that it be a material factor. It need not be the sole or primary cause, but only the precipitating factor [.]’ ”

25 Or App at 855-56.

In Cardwell, the issue was also about medical causation. Unlike in Summit, we concluded in Cardwell that the claimant had not carried his burden of proof by a preponderance of evidence. We explained, referring to some of the medical testimony, that, “[o]n the whole, this testimony suggests that the work activity was a minimal rather than a material contributing cause of death.” 6 Or App at 181.

None of the above cases involved the interpretation of the statutory language at issue in this case, let alone language in related statutory provisions.

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Mize v. Comcast Corp-AT & T Broadband
145 P.3d 315 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2006)

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Bluebook (online)
145 P.3d 315, 208 Or. App. 563, 2006 Ore. App. LEXIS 1583, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mize-v-comcast-corp-at-t-broadband-orctapp-2006.