Disability Law

JCC May Not Rely Upon Lay Testimony in Deciding "Major Contributing Cause"

By David A. McCranie, Esq.

One of the changes wrought by the 2003 amendments to the Florida Workers' Compensation Law concerned the employee's burden of proving that his on-the-job accident is the "major contributing cause" of a given medical condition and the need for treatment of that condition.  Under those amendments, "[m]ajor contributing cause must be demonstrated by medical evidence only" (emphasis added).  See §440.09(1), Fla. Stat.

In Gallagher Bassett Services-Orlando v. Mathis, decided on 9/22/2008, the First DCA reversed the JCC's finding that the claimant's 2006 on-the-job accident was the "major contributing cause" of her cervical injuries.  The claimant's IME physician, upon whom the JCC had relied in making her finding, was unable to determine from his examination and the claimant's medical records whether her pre-existing cervical injuries were exacerbated by the 2006 accident.  Significantly, the court also noted that in making her findings on the "major contributing cause" issue the JCC could not rely upon the lay testimony of Mathis and her husband that her pain level increased significantly after the 2006 accident.

Full post as published by Florida Workers’ Compensation Law Blog on October 23, 2008 (boomark / email).