Court: Injuries even to prosthetic parts deserve workers’ comp benefits

American Appliances Inc. and Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. v. Industrial Claim Appeals Office of the State of Colorado and Charles E. Bodine, the court ruled that the injury Bodine had sustained to his hip prosthesis was a compensable injury.

Bodine “had a number of previous nonindustrial left hip replacements. In June 2005, when exiting his company truck, Bodine felt a pop in his left hip,” according to the case. “He was diagnosed with a left hip prosthetic shift and underwent prosthetic hip replacement surgery.”

American Appliances and its insurer Liberty Mutual requested dismissal of the claim, arguing that Bodine did not sustain an injury to his “person” because only “the prosthetic device [was] injured.” An administrative law judge determined that the claim was compensable.

The employer and insurer appealed, citing a previous court case that determined that an accidental injury to that claimant’s wooden leg was not compensable because “[c]ompensation can be awarded for personal injuries only,” and “[a] wooden leg is a man’s property, not part of his person, and no compensation can be awarded for its injury.”

The appeals court disagreed, noting that it is an “employer’s duty to provide a claimant such medical devices that will cure and relieve the effects of his fall.” Because the administrative law judge found that the claimant needed a hip replacement, the Appeals Court concluded that the employer was liable, and the claim was compensable.