New Longshore case from the First Circuit Court of Appeals. The case is Bath Iron Works Corp. v. Fields and can be found here.
This case turns on the employer's burden of proof to rebut the work connection to an injury:
Section 20(a) of the LHWCA provides that certain disabilities are presumed to be work-related "in the absence of substantial evidence to the contrary." 33 U.S.C. § 920(a). Relying on that provision, the Benefits Review Board affirmed an award of disability benefits for respondent Clair Maynard Fields.
Fields's employer Bath Iron Works ("BIW"), a ship manufacturing facility based in Bath, Maine, now petitions for review of the Board's decision, arguing that it produced "substantial evidence" to rebut the statutory presumption and, alternatively, that the Board exceeded the scope of its authority in vacating an earlier decision of the ALJ that rejected Fields's claim for benefits. We disagree on both points and therefore deny the petition.
The opinion is fact heavy, but it does show that the presumption is a potent tool in claimant's arsenal.
Comments