Name
Denise Pare v. Central Maine Health
Insurance Company
Futurecomp
Date Decided
May 26, 2022
Panel Members
Bryan Chabot
Tom Pelletier
Mike Stovall
Categories
Legal Causation Compensability Pre-Existing Injury Compensability Legal Causation Pre-Existing InjuryTags
File Size
144 KB
DownloadSummary from the Troubh Heisler Attorneys
Pare v. Central Maine Healthcare- Pare had symptomatic pre-existing condition of the neck and thoracic outlet syndrome (TOS). In 2014 she suffered compensable injury to her neck, left arm and hand. She left work for unrelated reasons in 2017 and then went on to have two surgeries for her TOS.
Relying on the employee's testimony and opinions of the treating surgeon, and rejecting the opinion of the sec. 207 examiner, the ALJ granted Pare's petition for award and placed Pare on total incapacity benefits. Central Maine Health appealed. The Appellate Division affirmed the decision, stating the connection between a work injury and disability is a one of fact, and there was competent evidence to support the ALJ's finding. It also rejected Central Maine Healthcare's argument that because she was already symptomatic Pare failed to meet her burden of proving an occurrence of a work-related injury. The panel held that the personal injury does not need to be the sole cause of the disability.