Cruz-Salazar v. SAIF

By providing a process for claim closure in claims involving combined conditions, ORS 656.268(1)(b) (setting forth procedure for the denial of combined conditions), the legislature had created an exception to the “general rule” that a worker is to be compensated for total impairment that is caused in material part by the compensable injury. Caren, 365 Or at 487.

Claimant sought review of an order from the Workers’ Compensation Board which affirmed an order of an administrative law judge that reduced the claimant’s award of benefits for impairment made by the Appellate Review Unit of the Workers’ Compensation Division of the Department of Consumer and Business Services. On appeal, Claimant argued that the Board’s order to reduce her award must be reversed in light of the Supreme Court’s opinion in a recent case titled Caren. In Caren, the Court held that by providing a process for claim closure in claims involving combined conditions, ORS 656.268(1)(b) (setting forth procedure for the denial of combined conditions), the legislature had created an exception to the “general rule” that a worker is to be compensated for total impairment that is caused in material part by the compensable injury. 365 Or at 487. As such, the Court determined that Caren set a precedent, and Claimant was entitled to compensation for the “full measure” of her impairment. Reversed and remanded.