LAMBERT CONSTRUCTION CO. & RELIANCE INSURANCE CO., APPELLANTS,
v.
SAM BEAMON, APPELLEE
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Lambert Construction Co. and Reliance Insurance Co. appealed a workers' compensation order awarding benefits to claimant Sam Beamon for a temporary total disability injury. The court affirmed the award, finding that the claimant's pre-existing thrombophlebitis condition was severely aggravated by a work-related slip and fall, constituting a compensable industrial injury under the logical cause doctrine.
The court held that claimant sustained a compensable industrial injury under the logical cause doctrine, as the work-related slip and fall directly aggravated his pre-existing thrombophlebitis condition to the point of temporary total disability. The deputy's determination of causation and disability was supported by the medical evidence and claimant's testimony and did not constitute error.
[1] A workers' compensation claimant's pre-existing condition can be deemed aggravated by an industrial accident, rendering the resulting disability compensable.
[2] The logical cause doctrine may be applied to establish a causal link between an industrial accident and a claimant's aggravated pre-existing condition.
Previewing 2 of 3 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“We find that the present case is a proper instance for application of the logical cause doctrine as expressed in Wilhelm v. Westminster Presbyterian Church, 235 So.2d 726 (Fla.1970), and we therefore conclude that the deputy did not err in determining that claimant sustained an industrial accident which severely aggravated his thrombophlebitis.”
Establishes the court's application of the logical cause doctrine to hold that the workplace accident caused compensable aggravation of pre-existing condition
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceClaimant, a laborer, fell while digging a trench at work and subsequently experienced weakness and severe inflammation of his lower leg. Although clai…
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WENTWORTH, Judge.
Employer/carrier seek review of a workers’ compensation order by which benefits were awarded upon a determination that claimant sustained a compensable injury rendering him temporarily totally disabled. We affirm the order appealed.
Claimant is a laborer who testified that after he fell while digging a trench at work he experienced weakness and severe inflammation of his lower leg. Although he had suffered from recurrent episodes of thrombophlebitis for over fifteen years claimant had nevertheless been able to maintain strenuous laboring employment despite occasional leg inflammations. However, after the described slip and fall claimant’s condition rendered him incapacitated and he required ambulatory assistance. Claimant promptly sought medical care and he was seen by several physicians and twice hospitalized. Medical reports from these several physicians establish that claimant’s thromboplebitic condition has become acute with newly formed anastomosis and collaterals in the left calf. The medical reports also suggest that during the course of his recovery claimant should avoid “the type of work that he has been doing.”
Although claimant’s physicians were not expressly questioned regarding the causal etiology of claimant’s present complaints, their medical reports do indicate a recent aggravation of claimant’s condition, and claimant’s own testimony suggests that the increased severity of his symptomatology was directly preceded by his slip and fall at work. We find that the present case is a proper instance for application of the logical cause doctrine as expressed in Wilhelm v. Westminster Presbyterian Church, 235 So. 2d 726 (Fla.1970), and we therefore conclude that the deputy did not err in determining that claimant sustained an industrial accident which severely aggravated his thrombophlebitis.
Employer/carrier has raised several other issues on appeal which we also find to be without error. To the extent that these issues encompass determinations of credibility they are within the ambit of the deputy’s fact-finding authority. See Grillo v. Big “B” Ranch, 328 So. 2d 429 (Fla.1976).
The order appealed is affirmed.
NIMMONS and ZEHMER, JJ., concur.
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House v. Preferred Auto Leasing & Lynn Underwriting Co. & Gen. Rent-A-Car & Am. Mut. Ins. Co., 476 So. 2d 1337 (Fla. 1st DCA 1985)…explain the numbness and was unsure as to whether the initial injury was the total cause of claimant’s condition subsequent to the March, 1983 fall, there is nothing in the record to rule out a causal connection. Lambert Construction Co. v. Beamon, 473 So. 2d 771 (Fla. 1st DCA 1985). Further, the record does not support the deputy’s finding that the 1978 trauma could not be consistent with 1983 “radiographic and myelographic findings.” The “long history of multiple trauma” consisted only of two instances of…
Authorities Cited
- Wilhelm v. Westminster Presbyterian Church, 235 So. 2d 726 (Fla. 1970)
- Grillo v. BIG "B" Ranch, 328 So. 2d 429 (Fla. 1976)