The Commission affirms an award of PTD benefits for a worker who hurt his thoracic spine while cutting a tree in 2014 which required a multi-level fusion and more than $400,000 in medical benefits. Ernst v Jackson County, Inj. No 14-016690, Aug 15, 2017.
The ALJ claimant's pain complaints credible despite FCE and surveillance evidence. The worker introduced vocational testimony that his vocational profile and his restrictions rendered him unemployable.
The Commission deferred to the ALJ's finding of credibility noting a general policy to rarely disturb a finding of credibility of a live witness.
ALJ Mieners
Atty: Edelman
Exerts: Stuckmeyer Dreiling
