Christie v. Georgia-Pacific Co., No. 17-70853 (9th Cir. 2018)
Annotate this CaseRetirement status alone, in and of itself, is not dispositive to determining disability under the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act. The Ninth Circuit granted a petition for review of the Benefit Review Board's decision denying claimant disability benefits under the Act. The panel interpreted the language of 33 U.S.C 902(10) defining "disability," and held that claimant's decision to retire early did not prevent him from receiving permanent total disability benefits. In this case, substantial evidence supported the ALJ's findings that claimant was disabled within the meaning of the Act and that he has attained maximum medical improvement, no longer being able to return to work. Therefore, the panel reversed and remanded for a calculation of the permanent total disability benefits to be awarded to claimant.
Court Description: Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act The panel granted a claimant’s petition for review, reversed the Benefits Review Board’s decision denying claimant disability benefits under the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act, and remanded for a calculation of the permanent total disability benefits to be awarded to claimant. The panel interpreted the language of 33 U.S.C § 902(10) defining “disability,” and held that claimant’s decision to retire early did not prevent him from receiving permanent total disability benefits. The panel further held that substantial evidence in the record supported the administrative law judge’s findings that claimant was disabled with the meaning of the Act: he attained maximum medical improvement, he could no longer return to his previous employment, and the employer failed to establish that suitable alternative employment existed. The panel noted that the Board did not question the ALJ’s factual findings, and remanded for calculation of an award of benefits.
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