Because only half of an employee’s total permanent disability was caused by a fall at work, and the remaining half was due to degenerative conditions, a California appeals court reversed a decision by the state’s workers’ compensation board, which granted a 100 percent disability award. The permanent disability should have been apportioned between industrial and nonindustrial causes, the court ruled.
The claimant was employed as a workers’ compensation claims adjuster for Santa Clara County from November 1991 until she retired in December 2016. On Nov. 22, 2011, she fell at work and injured her left knee. She later developed pain and problems in her right knee, which were found to be a compensable consequence of the injury to her left knee. In June 2012, the claimant had total knee-replacement surgery on the right knee. In September 2013, she had total knee-replacement surgery on her left knee.
