- Court: Oregon Supreme Court
- Area(s) of Law: Workers Compensation
- Date Filed: 06-03-2022
- Case #: S068207
- Judge(s)/Court Below: Nelson, J. for the Court; Walters, C.J.; Balmer, J.; Flynn, J.; Duncan, J.; Garrett, J.; & Nakamoto, S.J.
- Full Text Opinion
Defendant appealed the court’s award of damages for impairing the “reduced range of motion and decreased stability” of the Plaintiff’s knee. Defendant assigned error to the court’s interpretation of “impairment” in ORS 656.214 and argued that the Plaintiff’s award should be limited just to the loss of use that was caused by a compensable workplace injury. In response, Plaintiff argued that “impairment” under ORS 656.214 included the “full measure of loss” in the body part affected by a compensable injury, including loss that was not caused by the injury. ORS 656.214 defines “impairment” as “the loss of use or function of a body part or system due to the compensable industrial injury.” The Court found that because the medical arbiter had determined that the “reduced range of motion and decreased stability” in the Plaintiff’s knee was not caused in any part by the compensable workplace injury, those losses did not fall under “impairment” pursuant to ORS 656.214. Reversed.