Court Opinion

ID: 9933589
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-02-09 18:42:15.681633+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:10:32.351081
License: Public Domain

I respectfully dissent. The standard of proof in workers' compensation cases "involving injuries which have resulted from gradual deterioration or cumulative physical stress disorders," such as carpal tunnel syndrome, is that such injuries "shall be deemed compensable only upon a finding of clear and convincing proof that those injuries arose out of and in the course of the employee's employment." Ala. Code 1975, §25-5-81(c) (emphasis added). Viewed in a light most favorable to Melton, the expert medical evidence supports only the proposition that his work as a forklift operator could have caused or could have aggravated his carpal tunnel syndrome or that that work probably was a contributing factor. In my view, such speculative evidence does not satisfy §25-5-81(c). See United Defense, L.P. v. Willingham, 829 So.2d 771
(Ala.Civ.App. 2002).