Newman

Claude Newman seeks annulment of an order of the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board (hereinafter Board) apportioning part of his permanent disability to a prior nonindustrial injury.

As a child, petitioner’s left leg was amputated above the knee due to osteomyelitis. For various reasons, a prosthesis was not prescribed and he walked using crutches and a cane.

Between 1940 and 1980 Newman was employed as a jeweler. His work was described as 95 percent sedentary and the record contains no evidence his injury inhibited his earning ability. In 1980 he suffered a cerebral vascular accident (CVA) which resulted in hearing loss, loss of the use of his left arm, decreased vision, loss of memory, and learning disabilities. Both doctors who examined him concluded the CVA was industrially caused and left him permanently and totally disabled.

Following an evidentiary hearing, the judge found Newman to be 100 percent permanently disabled from the CVA and refused to apportion any of the second injury to the first. In written findings, the judge determined the present disability was unrelated to the amputation and petitioner’s ability to compete in the open job market was decreased…