Justices Lift Proof Burden Off Employer in PTD Case

Utah's Supreme Court has interpreted the permanent total disability law to mean that the burden of proof always is on the employee. The justices rejected a claimant's argument that the burden of proof shifts and that the Utah Labor Commission is free to assign the burden to either party. The commission denied a Enrique Martinez's claim for permanent total disability and a court of appeals reviewed. Justice Jill Parrish wrote the unanimous opinion in which the court agreed that the permanent total disability statute's subsection was not well written. "Although we concede that sectio...