No specific laws identified for this ruling.
The Kansas Supreme Court affirmed the Board's decision that the original workers compensation carrier Hartford, not the new carrier KLA, was responsible for repairs to the employee's prosthetic glove resulting from normal wear and tear during work use, rejecting the argument that damage constituted a new accident.
SYLLABUS BY THE COURT 1. WORKERS COMPENSATION — Workers Compensation Board's Review of Administrative Law Judge's Decision — Scope of Review. K.S.A. 44-551(b)(1) does not limit the Kansas Workers Compensation Board's (Board) scope of review to issues raised in the written request for review. Rather, once a party files a written request for review of the administrative law judge's decision, the Board has the authority to address every issue decided by the administrative law judge. 2. SAME — Prosethic Device Required as Result of Work-related Accident — Costs Associated with Normal Wear and Tear — Liability of Employer and Insurer for Costs. K.A.R. 51-9-2 applies only where the usefulness of an appliance, including a prosthetic device, is destroyed by a specific accident. K.A.R. 51-9-2 does not apply where a prosthetic device becomes damaged through normal wear and tear. Costs associated with normal wear and tear are the responsibility of the employer and its insurance carrier at the time of the original accident.
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<bold>Workers' Compensation — Causation — fibromyalgia — doctor's opinion</bold> <bold>testimony</bold> <block_quote> The Court of Appeals erred in concluding that competent evidence was presented to support the Industrial Commission's findings of fact with regard to the cause of plaintiff-employee's fibromyalgia based solely on the opinion testimony of one doctor.</block_quote>
<bold>1. Workers' Compensation — Seagraves test — injured employee's</bold> <bold>right to continuing benefits — termination for misconduct</bold> <block_quote> Our Supreme Court adopts the <italic>Seagraves</italic>, <cross_reference>123 N.C. App. 228</cross_reference> (2003), test for determining an injured employee's right to continuing workers' compensation benefits after being terminated for misconduct whereby an employer must demonstrate initially that the employee was terminated for misconduct, the same misconduct would have resulted in the termination of a nondisabled employee, and the termination was unrelated to the employee's compensable injury, in order to find that an employee constructively refused suitable work, thus barring workers' compensation benefits for lost earnings unless the employee is then able to show that his inability to find or hold other employment at a wage comparable to that earned prior to the injury is due to the work-related injury.</block_quote> <bold>2. Workers' Compensation — constructive refusal of suitable</bold> <bold>employment — termination for misconduct unrelated to</bold> <bold>workplace injuries</bold> <block_quote> The Industrial Commission erred in a workers' compensation case by concluding that defendant employer met its burden of providing competent evidence that plaintiff employee's failure to perform her UPC labeling duties was not related to her prior compensable injury under workers' compensation, which thereby led to her termination for misconduct and denial of additional workers' compensation benefits based on an alleged failure to accept a suitable position reasonably offered by her employer, because: (1) the evidence relied upon by the Commission's majority indicated that plaintiff was having continuing problems in the wake of, and as a result of, her injuries; (2) there was no competent evidence referenced in the Commission's opinion and award that supported a showing by defendant employer that
Workers' compensation—Claimant who leaves former position of employment for a new position does not forfeit temporary total disability compensation eligibility.
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