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Applicant, a 60 year old farm laborer, claimed to have suffered a cumulative trauma injury to his neck, abdomen, back and foot in the course & scope of employment with the farm labor contractor (06/01/2012 – 10/19/2012). Applicant had worked in the fields for approximately 10 years. His job duties did include frequent repetitive work of removing leaves and gathering grapes and walking on wet surfaces. Applicant alleged being exposed to pesticides and working in the fields over the years had caused his symptoms. This claim was timely denied based on a lack of medical evidence to support a claim of injury and a lack of timely reporting to the employer.

The Applicant’s only evidence in support of an industrial injury were reports from non-MPN PTP, Dr. Toutoundjian. According to the medical reports, over time, the applicant developed neck pain, groin, mid back and low back pain radiating to his left foot from working his daily job duties. Dr. Toutoundjian found the applicant on TTD for Applicant had also been recently diagnosed with autoimmune disorder, Myasthenia Gravis (MG).

Applicant was seen by an internal QME who found all of the applicant’s symptoms were related to the MG. The QME found the applicant’s history of working around pesticides in the fields would not cause the MG or current symptoms. The QME also noted that the autoimmune MG would have been present absent any industrial exposure and did not find an industrial injury.

At Trial, Applicant’s attorney did not provide evidence to rebut the QME report. The Applicant refused to testify on his own behalf. Applicant’s attorney did not support his burden of proving the claim was AOE/COE.

Since the applicant could not prove his injury was industrially related, the ALJ ordered the applicant to take nothing on his claim. The Applicant is not entitled to compensation in the form of temporary disability, permanent disability, need for further medical care, or coverage of attorney’s fees.

The Applicant, a 44-year-old male, was working as a baker at a large grocery chain on the date of the alleged injury. The Applicant claimed to have suffered a cumulative trauma injury to his eye, back, psyche, respiratory system, sleep disorder, & skin in the course & scope of employment with the grocery chain (December 30, 2011 – November 14, 2012). This claim was timely denied based on a lack of medical evidence to support a claim of injury and a lack of timely reporting to the employer.

The Applicant’s only evidence in support of the injury AOE/COE was the medical reporting of his primary physician, Chiropractor Caligiuri. Caligiuri’s reliance on the Applicant’s inadequate & inaccurate medical history, as well as his failure to review the Applicant’s prior medical history represented two big flaws in his evaluation of the Applicant. The Applicant had failed to disclose to Chiropractor Caligiuri his prior industrial back injury & his prior motor vehicle accidents. Three separate & independent Panel Qualified Medical Examiners (PQMEs) conducted exhaustive reviews of the Applicant’s prior medical history & found the Applicant’s alleged injuries non-industrial in nature & unrelated to his employment at the grocery chain, based on several, irrefutable factors.

At trial, the Applicant outright misstated that he did not have a prior back injury. He stated that his previous workers’ compensation claim with another firm was for an injury to his right shoulder, despite medical & legal evidence disproving his statements. None of this information was mentioned to any of the PQMEs that met previously with the Applicant. The Applicant admitted he did not tell anyone that he worked with that his injuries were work related.

Further, it is found that Chiropractor Caligiuri’s reports were inadmissible for failure to rise to the level of substantial medical evidence. Due to absent medical evidence to support his claim of industrial injury, the applicant is incapable of meeting the burden of proving the injury AOE/ COE.

The Applicant was found to be less than credible. His testimony at times was inconsistent with the information contained in the medical record & his deposition testimony. He denied knowing any of his injuries were work related before he stopped working.

As injury was found to be not industrially related, the Applicant is not entitled to compensation on the basis of temporary disability, permanent disability, apportionment, need for further medical care, or coverage of attorney’s fees.

The Applicant was ordered by the ALJ to take nothing on his claim.

This matter involved a denied Specific Injury claim by the Applicant. The Defendant’s denial was based on the initial aggressor defense under LC 3600.

The Applicant claimed that he was involved in an altercation with his supervisor. It was stated by the Applicant that his supervisor was the initial aggressor, while the supervisor claimed that the Applicant was the initial aggressor. The Applicant sustained a laceration to his left eyebrow as a result of the altercation. When the Applicant retained counsel, he reported that he had pleaded a skin and contents claim.

Immediately after the incident, the Applicant went to the emergency room and got stitches. The only complaint he mentioned on the date of the injury was in regards to his eyebrow. One week later, he went back to get the stitches removed &, still, the only complaint that he had was in regards to his eyebrow.

Two days of trial on the matter, with out-of-state witnesses and the employer’s testimony regarding the fight, the Judge found that the Applicant was not the initial aggressor but threw out all of the body parts pleaded with exception to the left eyebrow. The matter then went forward, a year later, to the third day of trial with regards to permanent disability, temporary disability, and need for future medical care. The Judge issued a “findings of fact” and determined that the Applicant would “take nothing,” as the laceration to the left eyebrow is not ratable and thus, there is no temporary disability or need for future medical care.