You are here: / / CONFLICTING EVIDENCE OF THE CAUSES OF CLAIMANT’S HEARING LOSS DID...
,

CONFLICTING EVIDENCE OF THE CAUSES OF CLAIMANT’S HEARING LOSS DID NOT SUPPORT THE MEDICAL EXPERTS’ CONCLUSIONS THAT THE LOSS WAS ATTRIBUTABLE TO THE OPERATION OF HEAVY MACHINERY (THIRD DEPT).

The Third Department, reversing the Workers’ Compensation Board, determined the conflicting evidence of the causes of claimant’s hearing loss did not support the experts’ conclusions that the hearing loss was “likely” caused by exposure to noise from the operation of heavy equipment:

… [T]he medical opinion evidence on the issue of causation need not be expressed with certainty or in absolute terms … , and we acknowledge that the Board is vested with the exclusive authority to weigh conflicting medical opinions and to evaluate the medical evidence before it … . That said, the medical opinions upon which the Board bases its finding of a causal relationship nonetheless must be supported by a rational basis … . Here, each of the foregoing physicians indeed expressed that it was “likely or “very obvious” that claimant’s hearing loss was attributable to work-related noise exposure. However, given the other documented sources of noise exposure … , the conflicting medical histories provided by claimant and, most notably, the testimony of the carrier’s consultant, who made clear that the results of claimant’s audiograms were decidedly inconsistent with noise-related hearing loss, we are unable to conclude that these generalized statements of causation are otherwise supported by a rational basis in the record as a whole. Under these circumstances, the Board’s finding that claimant sustained a work-related binaural hearing loss is not supported by substantial evidence … . Matter of Spada v Keeler Constr. Co., 2025 NY Slip Op 05553, Third Dept 10-9-25

Practice Point: In the context of a hearing loss alleged to have been caused by prolonged exposure to noise from heavy machinery, the medical experts’ conclusions must be supported by evidence in the record. Here the experts’ conclusions that the hearing loss was attributable to the operation of heavy machinery were weakened by conflicting causation-evidence in the record and the finding of causation was reversed.

 

You might also like
Petitioner Entitled to Attorney’s Fees Based on Respondent’s Failure to Timely Respond to Requests for Information
Inmate Should Not Have Been Required to Document His Native American Ancestry In Order to Practice His Religion
FATHER’S OBJECTIONS (EXCEPTIONS) TO THE IMMEDIATE RETURN OF HIS SON TO ITALY PURSUANT TO THE HAGUE CONVENTION SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN REJECTED; THE EXCEPTIONS RELATED TO ALLEGATIONS THE SON WAS SUBJECTED TO SEXUAL ABUSE BY A MINOR IN MOTHER’S HOME IN ITALY (THIRD DEPT).
IN THIS TERMINATION OF PARENTAL RIGHTS PROCEEDING, ALTHOUGH FAMILY COURT THREATENED TO FIND RESPONDENT IN DEFAULT WHEN HE DID NOT PROVIDE PROOF HE FAILED TO APPEAR BECAUSE HE WAS HOSPITALIZED, FAMILY COURT DID NOT ULTIMATELY GIVE RESPONDENT A “DEFAULT WARNING;” RESPONDENT AND HIS COUNSEL WERE PRESENT AT THE FACT-FINDING BUT WERE PRECLUDED BY THE COURT FROM PARTICIPATING; RESPONDENT HAS A RIGHT TO BE HEARD ON THE ABANDONMENT ISSUE; REVERSED AND REMITTED (THIRD DEPT).
LABOR LAW 240(1) LIABILITY IS NONDELEGABLE AND EXTENDS TO INDEPENDENT CONTRACTORS.
TIE ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS VOTE IS NOT A DEFAULT DENIAL WHEN THE BOARD IS EXERCISING ITS ORIGINAL JURISDICTION.
ARTICLE 10 PROCEEDINGS ARE CIVIL IN NATURE, HOWEVER THE COURT ANALYZED WHETHER RESPONDENT COULD REPRESENT HIMSELF AND WHETHER HE WAS AFFORDED EFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE USING THE CRIMINAL LAW STANDARDS (THIRD DEPT).
CLAIMANT WAS ENTITLED TO MORE COMPENSATION FOR THE 3.86 ACRES TAKEN FOR AN AIRPORT RUNWAY AND THE 80.72 ACRES TAKEN FOR AN AVIGATION (RUNWAY APPROACH) EASEMENT; PURSUANT TO THE ISSUES OF CONTIGUITY, UNITY OF USE AND UNITY OF TITLE. THE ENTIRE PARCEL, NOT A SINGLE SMALLER PARCEL, WAS AFFECTED BY THE TAKING (THIRD DEPT).

Categories

Sign Up for the Mailing List to Be Notified When the Site Is Updated.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Copyright © 2026 New York Appellate Digest, Inc.
Site by CurlyHost | Privacy Policy

WITH RESPECT TO A RESIDENTIAL COOPERATIVE, INDIVIDUAL MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF... PLAINTIFF ALLEGED A DEFECTIVELY MAINTAINED AND/OR INSTALLED TRAFFIC SIGNAL ALLOWED...