The ruling Tuesday by California’s 1st District Court of Appeal in San Francisco in the closely followed case of Diane Benson v. Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board, the court upheld a 2004 reform measure regarding claims apportionment.

It also upheld a workers’ comp board finding that granted Benson a total of $49,210 for two awards stemming from neck injuries that each caused a 31 percent permanent disability.

The file clerk for Permanente Medical Group suffered a “specific neck injury” on June 3, 2003, as well as a “cumulative trauma injury” through that date, according to court records.

Benson had argued that she is entitled to $67,000 because she suffers a 62 percent combined permanent disability from both injuries.

The difference between the compensation Benson sought and the board’s award stemmed from a “nonlinear benefit schedule,” court records state.

“We agree with the board that a system of apportionment based on causation requires that each distinct industrial injury be separately compensated based on its individual contribution to a permanent disability,” the appellate court ruled.

—Roberto Ceniceros/Business Insurance
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—Crain's Benefits Outlook, February 2009