Name
Dionne v. Sam's Italian Foods
Insurance Company
Eastguard Insurance
Date Decided
October 25, 2013
Panel Members
Timothy Collier
Elizabeth Elwin
Mike Stovall
Categories
Findings of Fact Board IMETags
Findings of Fact Pre-existing injury knee causation §201(5) IME§312
File Size
175 KB
DownloadSummary from the Troubh Heisler Attorneys
Dionne had a pre-existing knee condition which he aggravated first at work and then at home, after which he had 2 surgeries. Judge Goodnough adopted the §312 IME findings of the "significant aggravation" work injury, initially apportioning 50% responsibility to that injury and 50% to his subsequent nonwork injury under §201 (5). Dionne filed for additional findings, and Judge Goodnough then found that the subsequent non-work aggravation was "causally connected" to the work injury, so §201 (5) did not apply. Sam's appealed, but the Appellate Division upheld the decision, pointing out that Judge Goodnough was entitled to determine the employee's credibility and was not bound by the §312 IME opinion to find that the work injury had resolved.