Opinion ID: 2605121
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: work-relatedness

Text: The evidence against a work relation is at most speculative. The evidence that no claim was made for a wrist injury and that nobody recalled Hoth mentioning an injury is not particularly illuminating, since the fact of the fall is uncontested and both Hoth and his wife specifically testified that he did injure the wrist after falling from the scaffolding. The fact that Hoth failed to recall the incident nine years after it occurred is also not particularly compelling, given the lack of significant symptoms resulting from it. Finally, although there were intervening events in which a similar injury might have been incurred, there was nothing to show that any such injury or incident in fact did take place; more importantly, Hoth and his wife specifically denied that his wrist had been made sore other than through normal use since the initial injury, [3] and the onset of degenerative arthritis that indicated an injury at least a year or more old is consistent with an earlier injury. Absent a showing of evidence to the contrary, claims for compensation are presumed to come under the statute. See AS 23.30.120(1); Rogers Electric Co. v. Kouba, 603 P.2d 909, 911 (Alaska 1979). In reviewing a decision of the Board, the applicable standard of review is the substantial evidence test. Substantial evidence is such relevant evidence as a reasonable mind might accept as adequate to support a conclusion. Miller v. ITT Arctic Services, 577 P.2d 1044, 1049 (Alaska 1978). This is the quantum of evidence necessary to overcome the presumption that Hoth's disability arose from the 1971 incident rather than from an independent cause. Alaska Pacific Assurance Co. v. Turner, 611 P.2d 12, 15 (Alaska 1980); Rogers Electric Co. v. Kouba, 603 P.2d at 911 (Alaska 1979). Furthermore, [w]hile the judiciary may not reweigh the evidence before the Board, neither may it abdicate its reviewing function and affirm a Board decision that has only extremely slight supporting evidence. Black v. Universal Services, Inc., 627 P.2d 1073, 1076 (Alaska 1981) (citation omitted). In Turner, we affirmed the superior court's rejection of the Board's finding of no work-relatedness where the Board emphasized Turner's failure to get medical attention at the time pain first manifested itself, and his failure to mention any back or leg pain when he sought medical aid for an unrelated problem. This is essentially the same kind of evidence that the Board relied on in this case. The only difference is that in Hoth's case there was a lengthy period during which some other accident might have occurred to cause his current condition. On this record, however, little more than speculation would support a finding of independent causation. The mere possibility of another injury is not substantial evidence sufficient to overcome the presumption of compensability. Accordingly, we reverse the Board's decision that Hoth's current disability is not work-related. REVERSED. RABINOWITZ and CONNOR, JJ., not participating.