Pre-Existing Injuries and Worker’s Comp

Where litigants and judges find difficulty in on-the-job injury cases are in those circumstances when there is a subsequent accident to the same part of the body at a new employer. In those cases, the Court does have to determine whether or not the second injury is a new injury, an aggravation of a prior injury, or a recurrence of an old injury. A recurrence occurs when the second injury “does not contribute even slightly to the causation of the disability.” If the second injury is an aggravation of the first injury, the employer at the time of the aggravating injury will be liable. In the case of a recurrence, the first employer will be liable.