DCBS Proposes Rule Changes to Address Schleiss and Brown Decisions

The Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services is proposing rule changes that would limit apportionment to recognized preexisting conditions and clarify the definitions of compensable injuries and accepted conditions so the rules conform to a pair of recent court decisions. In the 2013 case Schleiss v. SAIF Corp., the state Supreme Court said a carrier can't apportion a permanent partial disability award based on a worker's accelerated aging from his smoking habit or mild degenerative joint disease because neither qualified as a "preexisting condition." This year, ...