Appeals Panel Emphasizes Importance of the Mechanism of Injury

In APD 241147, decided September 30, 2024, the Appeals Panel reversed and remanded an ALJ who completely misidentified the alleged mechanism of injury in an extent of injury case.

Claimant testified at CCH that he felt a sharp pain in his left shoulder while sanding a plane with his left arm on the date of injury. He claimed it resulted in various injuries to the cervical spine and his left shoulder.

The ALJ determined the compensable injury did NOT extend to include any of those diagnoses, and stated in their discussion portion of the decision that “while walking down a ramp [the claimant] slipped and fell backwards, landing seated.  The claimant further testified that he fell five feet and had pliers in his back pocket.”

The AP agreed with the claimant’s complaint on appeal that the mechanism of injury recited by the ALJ was incorrect and could not be found either in the testimony or in any of the medical records: “The ALJ has misstated the claimant’s testimony in this case regarding the manner in which the compensable injury occurred.  We view the ALJ’s description of the mechanism of the compensable injury as a material error in the statement of the evidence requiring reversal.”

On remand, they instructed the ALJ to correct the material error regarding the description of the mechanism of injury, consider all of the evidence, and make findings and conclusions on the extent of injury issue based on the correct recitation of that mechanism of claimed injury.