David Wilson v Robertson County Fire Protection District (Fund only )
Inj. No. 16-051959, 15-004493
Release Date: Aug 6, 2024
Venue: St. Louis County (Mitten, ALJ)
Atty: Barry, Kincade
Experts: Volarich, Gonzalez, Hughes (for Fund)
The claimant, a 66 year old firefighter, strained his low back and settled the case for 13%. He had prior settlements of 25% of the ankle and 25% of the knee. The ALJ found three prior conditions, two of which met threshold. The Commisison address two issues: whether the ALJ found the experts did not rely upon the non-qualifying conditon and whether plaintiff's experts were credible..
The commisison finds the SIF did not appeal the issue regarding inclusion of the knee but the Commisison found it had been included in the PTD determination (when the ALJ said it wasn't) as reversible error to take away the award..
So what is going on, here? SIF liability must be based on qualifying prior conditions. A prior conditon that does not qualify does not add or subtract from that liability, unless the prior is considered as a reason why the claimant cannot work. In this case, the judge stated she didn't consider it as part of the reason for SIF liaiblity. The Commission disagreed and stated it was part of the conclusion, noting the rating and extensive restrictons provided by claimant's expert for a non-qualifying disability.
Another important lesson is that finding credibility is not a final word and can be readdressed by the Commisison. It found the concluson of "credibility" of claimant's experts was not supported due to multiple contradictions between the facts and facts relied upon by the experts, noting a toxic need to lie down or concentration problems, not present in other evidence or testimony.
The case is an unusual departure to attack a finding of crediblity by the ALJ , when there were material inconsistnecies n the material facts relied upon.
