Opinion
WCB 85-09657; CA A42515
Argued and submitted July 24, 1987.
Reversed and remanded with instructions September 9, 1987.
Judicial Review from Workers' Compensation Board.
Robert Wollheim, Portland, argued the cause for petitioner. With him on the brief was Welch, Bruun Green, Portland.
Patric J. Doherty, Portland, argued the cause for respondents. With him on the brief was Rankin, VavRosky, Doherty, MacColl Mersereau, Portland.
Before Warden, Presiding Judge, and Van Hoomissen and Young, Judges.
PER CURIAM
Reversed and remanded with instructions to accept claim.
The sole issue in this workers' compensation case is whether claimant's stress-related mental disorder is a compensable occupational disease. The Workers' Compensation Board affirmed the referee's finding that it is not compensable, and claimant seeks review. We review de novo, ORS 656.298, and reverse.
To establish the compensability of her stress-related disorder, claimant had to prove that stressful conditions objectively existed on the job at employer's workplace and that the employment conditions, when compared to nonemployment exposure, were the major contributing cause of the disorder. McGarrah v. SAIF, 296 Or. 145, 166, 675 P.2d 159 (1983). Here, the undisputed testimony, including that of claimant's supervisor, is that the conditions at employer's workplace were stressful. The uncontradicted medical evidence is that claimant suffers from a stress-related mental disorder whose major, if not sole, contributing cause is the employment conditions. Applying the McGarrah standards, we hold that claimant's condition is compensable.
Because claimant has made no claim against her later employer and employer here has not sought to join the later employer in these proceedings, this employer cannot avoid responsibility for payment of compensation by showing that working conditions at the later employment contributed to claimant's disability. Runft v. SAIF, 303 Or. 493, 495, 739 P.2d 12 (1987).
Reversed and remanded with instructions to accept the claim.