WCDefenseCA

Alright, dear readers – it’s Wednesday.  You’ve made it this far, let’s keep going!

Your humble blogger does not like to sugar-coat reality.  I’ve explained to my children repeatedly, with a detailed and persuasive slide-show, that there is no Santa Clause, that their father likely has a favorite child (although this position is always in flux), and, despite the occasional flare of reason or justice, California Workers’ Compensation is where businesses go to be fleeced and devoured.

So, it is with great reluctance, that I bring you yet another story of reason and the defense community ultimately prevailing in yet another unpublished decision coming from the Court of Appeal.

The case is that of County of Sacramento v. WCAB, McCartney.  The facts are relatively simple: applicant, a peace officer, developed a skin condition which he attributed to his time in the sun on a motorcycle as a deputy sheriff.  The condition, actinic keratosis, may or may not be a precursor to skin cancer.

The QME, a dermatologist, had found that it was not more likely than not that applicant’s time in the sun as a deputy sheriff was the cause of the actinic keratosis.  Applicant has spent time in southern California as a surfer, and also spent his off-work time engaged in out-door activities, exercise, and golf.  The QME advised that there was insufficient factual and medical evidence to support a conclusion that it was on-the-job sun exposure that caused the condition.  The QME also acknowledged that some keratosis eventually become skin cancer, but applicant did not have skin cancer as yet.

When pressed by applicant’s counsel at deposition, the QME responded that the medical literature simply did not establish which of the many factors (recreational sun-time; pre-work sun-time; at-work sun-time; aging, pale skin, immune system) was the tipping point.  It wasn’t that work was a small contributor, it was that there was no way of knowing which of the many factor, if any, were the cause of his condition.

The result of the trial was a finding that there was no scientific basis upon which to conclude that the industrial exposure caused the condition.  So, applicant escalated matters to the WCAB, which reversed!  Citing South Coast Framing, the WCAB found that the QME had found that the on-the-job sun exposure contributed to the condition, but could not conclude the extent of the contribution.

However, the County of Sacramento, having caught the scent of a “take nothing,” was not willing to so easily give up the chase.

Eventually, the case did land on the desk of the Court of Appeal, which offered a different interpretation of the record, and provided a key form of distinguishing the South Coast Framing opinion.  In South Coast Framing, as the Court of Appeal explained, applicant was taking three drugs, one for an industrial condition, which the QME in that case concluded had a 0.01% – 20% causation.  By contrast, in the instant case, the QME concluded that there were many possible causes of the condition, and one of them was industrial.

My favorite line from the (sadly) unpublished opinion?  “The QME never acknowledged that there was a causative role of unknown degree arising out of [applicant’s] employment.  Rather, she took great pains to explain (repeatedly) that it was not possible to attribute the cause of [applicant’s] condition to any particular period of exposure to the sun, and therefore it was nothing more than speculation to identify the work-related exposure as a contributing cause.  Just because the effects of sun exposure are cumulative does not mean [applicant could not have reached a toxic dose before coming to work for the county…” (emphasis in original).

Though severely limited in its application, the McCartney opinion does give the defense community a few things to work with.  First off, there’s a clear distinction between the facts in South Coast Framing, which provided a plethora of causes of which industrial was a small amount, but sufficient to make the claim compensable.

But here, where there are many possible causes, applicant bears the burden of proving that, more likely than not, the industrial exposure is the cause, rather than one of many possible causes.

Additionally, unlike a dispute over some small amount of medical treatment, it might actually be worthwhile to take this issue up to the Court of Appeal on other cases.  Even if your case ultimately results in an unpublished decision, this opinion reflects at least some level of receptive disposition on the part of the Court of Appeal for such a theory.  The difference between industrial and non-industrial can be a vast fortune.

Alright, dear readers, back to work!