Name
DiFiore v. Maine Medical Center
Insurance Company
Synernet
Date Decided
October 23, 2018
Panel Members
Elizabeth Elwin
David Hirtle
Sue Jerome
Categories
Legal CausationTags
Back Pre-Existing Increased Risk
File Size
247 KB
DownloadSummary from the Troubh Heisler Attorneys
Mr. DiFiore had chronic low back pain from lifting weights at the gym and had MRI scans, injections, narcotics and a surgical consult. He worked in the mailroom and bent down to pick up an envelope from a tote on the floor, re-rupturing a lumbar disc, requiring surgery and lost time from work. He filed petitions, and MMC defended on grounds of “legal causation.”
Judge Collier found that Mr. DiFiore’s chronic back condition made him “susceptible to injury,” and that “the work activity did not create a risk of injury above the risk present in an average person’s non-employment life.” Mr. DiFiore appealed. The Appellate Division reviewed the facts anew and discussed the case law on both sides of “legal causation,” and it affirmed the decision, finding that Judge Collier applied the correct legal standard, and that his application of the law to the facts was not arbitrary and had a rational foundation.