THE WORKER’S COMPENSATION AWARD SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN APPORTIONED BETWEEN THE COMPENSABLE INJURY AND A PREEXISTING CONDITION WHICH DID NOT AFFECT CLAIMANT’S ABILITY TO WORK (THIRD DEPT).
The Third Department, reversing the Workers’ Compensation Board, determined the award should not have been apportioned between claimant’s compensable injury and his preexisting MS condition:
As a general rule, apportionment is not applicable as a matter of law where the preexisting condition was not the result of a compensable injury and the claimant was able to effectively perform his or her job duties at the time of the work-related accident despite the preexisting condition” … . “Significantly, degeneration and infirmities which have not previously produced disability are not a proper basis for reduction of compensation” … . …
… [C]laimant’s MS, although not diagnosed until after the work-related accident, was a preexisting condition. There is no evidence whatsoever that claimant’s MS precluded him from performing the duties of his employment. As there is no evidence of an apportionable disability prior to the … accident, apportionment of claimant’s award is, as a matter of law, inappropriate … . Matter of Whitney v Pregis Corp., 2019 NY Slip Op 06828, Third Dept 9-26-19
