'Idiopathic' Cause Means Condition Personal to Worker, not Unexplained Cause

In a case of first impression, the Kansas Court of Appeals last week ruled that the state's statutory bar on compensation for "idiopathic" injuries didn't necessarily bar a worker from receiving benefits for an unexplained fall down a flight of stairs. The fall caused Terril Graber to break his neck – but he has no recollection of how he came to fall. No one witnessed his fall either. Since there was no known reason for his accident, the Kansas Workers' Compensation Board determined that it arose out of an idiopathic cause. As of 2011, the Kansas Workers'...