CARPAL TUNNEL SYNDROME & REPETITIVE MOTION INJURIES

Carpal tunnel and overuse syndrome, cumulative trauma and repetitive motion injuries are unique in that they cannot be identified or defined by any particular date, time, event or place.  They come about due to nothing more than a working getting up, going to work and putting in 110% at the same or similar task for long enough to develop the underlying problem, whether for the same employer or successive employers.  Of course these type of injuries are by nature reserved for those who persevere in spite of mere discomfort, since many workers quit the task causing the injury thereby avoiding the injury altogether.

Historically the filing of these type cases normally resulted in the current employer dragging into the suit every employer they could identify who could in any small way be responsible for activity resulting in the injury.  Such activity inurned to the current employer’s benefit and many claimants simply gave up the claim owing to the time delays inherent in the procedural nightmare of lining up and allocating liability among multiple successive employers, many of which could not even identify who their insurance carrier was during the time period the injured worker was under their employ.

Such gave way to the current system of liability, under which the last employer and its carrier under which the injured employee worked and was exposed to the conditions which caused the injury for more than 90 days is soley responsible for the entire injury, and 100% of the medical expense and indemnity payments payable for the industrial injury.  However problems still arise, since the last employer legally responsible may have changed insurance coverage during this 90 day period.  Employers may also defend these cases asserting that the claimed condition was instead caused by activity outside of the work environment or by a degenerative or other condition unique to the injured worker.  As with all industrial injury, a worker is required to prove, with competent medical evidence, that the claimed occupational exposure is and was the “major cause” of the injury.  Furthermore, proof of a cumulative or repetitive trauma injury must be by objective medical findings, not simply an injured worker’s perceived or subjective complaints

Filing and other procedural requirements are strict for cumulative trauma cases.  There is a presumption against the work-related nature of these type claims if not filed within a specified period following a workers’ separation from the employment, for whatever reason.  Also a worker must be careful when describing his injury as cumulative, since any error in so describing his or her injury could be used by the employer to delay or deny payment of medical and other benefits, and could even be used by the court to deny the claim altogether.  Certainly many injuries commonly thought as single event injuries could more appropriately be filed and pursued as cumulative injury cases, and vise versa.  Finally employers will engage in strained interpretations in calculating the law related to the required 90 day exposure period.  To further complicate matters, even though liability for the injury is determined by the date of last exposure, benefit levels by law will be determined by the date of awareness or initial onset of the symptoms, which could be several years earlier.

Common sense will dictate that an injured worker even after completing treatment for a cumulative trauma condition will be unable to return to his normal and customary occupation, since the repetitive nature of this work caused the worker to be injured in the first place.  As such certain permanent disability and future economic loss will occur in these cases.  Our office understands the unique challenges inherent in cumulative trauma claims.  Call one of our attorneys today for a free analysis of your case.

In addition to carpal tunnel syndrome & repetitive motion inuries, the attorneys at THE ASH LAW FIRM handle on-the-job injuries and workers’ compensation cases of all types, and represent our clients throughout the state of Oklahoma including the following areas: Tulsa, Muskogee, Okmulgee, Bartlesville, McAlester, Tahlequah, Wagoner.