Was skin condition caused by work exposure?
March 31, 2009 by Fred HosierPosted in: In this week's e-newsletter, Injuries, Latest News & Views, Workers' comp, new court decision
Was an employee’s skin condition caused or simply aggravated by contact with chemicals at work? The distinction played an important part in this workers’ comp case.
An employee developed psoriasis after being exposed to chemical cleaning agents at work.
After leaving her job voluntarily, she sought workers’ comp benefits on the grounds that her psoriasis was an occupational disease.
A workers’ comp judge awarded her temporary total disability benefits, vocational rehabilitation and payment of all related medical treatment. The judge found that the employee “suffers from an occupational disease which was either caused or aggravated by her work.”
The company appealed.
During the appeal, a doctor testified that psoriasis is often of unknown origin. The doctor said exposure to certain substances, such as cleaning chemicals, may aggravate existing psoriasis.
The appeals court said the workers’ comp judge failed to make a distinction on whether the disease was caused or aggravated by work conditions.
Since no medical evidence could show that the employee’s psoriasis was caused by exposure at work, the appeals court overturned the award of comp benefits.
The court said comp may be awarded to employees who suffer a psoriasis outbreak at the time when symptoms are active and severe.
Cite: Carrodine v. Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. and Louisiana Tech, Court of Appeals of LA, No. 43,902WCA, 3/11/09.
Tags: chemicals at work, psoriasis, Workers' comp
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March 31st, 2009 at 2:03 pm
How bad does psoriasis have to be to get “temporary total disability benefits, vocational rehabilitation and payment of all related medical treatment”? Psoriasis can be painful or uncomfortable, but depending on the job, it doesn’t make one unable to work.
What I am surprised at is that the worker did not try to pursue normal venues to control the psoriasis, i.e., doctor visits, OTC medications and creams, etc. To quit work voluntarily, and THEN apply for worker’s comp. seems to be treating the symptoms and not the real cause.
March 31st, 2009 at 3:21 pm
Editor’s note: The court records of this case do show that the employee pursued medical treatment. However, the records don’t show a detailed and complete history of the medical attention she received.
March 31st, 2009 at 3:36 pm
I read the Appellate Court’s decision, and personally, I shudder to think about her pulling chicken tenders at Pilgrim’s Pride with a bad psoriasis rash.
But I also have to wonder that if she keeps getting psoriais from the bleach on her hands, whether she was folding the gloves back in such a way to keep the bleach from running down her arm. If you fold the gloves in an outward cuff, this will catch most of the bleach.
And why would she work as a custodian for 16 + years if she was so sensitive to bleach?