ALJ PRICE (COVINGTON) FINDS LIFTING OF CINDERBLOCK TO BE INTERVENING EVENT FOR SHOULDER INJURY

With regard to the shoulder injury Claimant suffered in June 2010, even if Claimant had
invoked the Section 20(a) presumption, Employer presents sufficient evidence to rebut that
presumption. Employer is correct in urging that Claimant’s activity of lifting a cinder block is an
intervening cause which severs the causal connection between the claimed work-related injury of
October 2009 and the consequences of the lifting injury which occurred in June 2010. This
situation appears similar to that of the Claimant in Merrill v. Todd Pacific Shipyards Corp., 25
BRBS 140 (1991). There, Claimant injured his back at work, continued working, was laid off,
and then reinjured his back while doing yard work at home. The BRB affirmed the ALJ’s
finding that the reinjuring of Claimant’s back at home was compensable as it was “an
exacerbation of his recurring chronic back pain, which began as a result of his work injury.” Id.
That case can be distinguished from the facts at hand as Claimant’s shoulder condition did not
first begin as a result of his work injury in October 2009, but rather, was a condition that existed
long before he began working for Employer. Dr. McKellar classified Claimant’s right shoulder
condition as “pre-existing” at the time of the October 22, 2009 injury. Claimant had surgery to
correct the problems that continued after that injury, and was released to work without
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restrtions...

Andress vs. ITT Insustries