Michael Borman sustained continuous trauma injury to his ears (hearing loss), bilateral upper extremities, neck and head during the year prior to his last day at work for Acme Steel as a steelworker. AME Dr. David Schindler apportioned hearing loss based on both non-industrial, degenerative causes and prior injury, opining that Borman’s 100 percent “binaural neurosensory hearing loss” was 60 percent due to “occupational factors, specifically noise induced hearing loss. Approximately 40 percent of Mr. Borman’s hearing loss is the result of non-occupational factors, particularly cochlear degeneration.”

Borman told Dr. Schindler he filed a workers’ compensation claim following a December 1994 explosion at the factory that threw him 10 to 15 feet and knocked him out momentarily. He was rated at 22 percent disability due to hearing loss from the 1994 injury, and his hearing has gradually gotten worse since then. Borman was examined by Dr. David Manace in October 1994. Dr. Manace documented that the explosion experienced by Borman occurred in 1993, found Borman had “a 37.5 percent monaural loss in the right ear and a 37.5 percent monaural hearing loss in the left ear for a 37.5 percent binaural hearing loss at that time,” and concluded Borman had a bilateral high-frequency hearing loss consistent with accumulated noise exposure. Dr. Manace recommended Borman should be fitted with hearing aids.

Dr. Schindler reiterated his conclusion in a subsequent report that Borman had “a 100 percent hearing loss . . . apportioned . . . as 60 percent due to noise-induced hearing loss and 40 percent due to other factors. The noise-induced hearing loss . . . includes the explosion component that was found by Dr. Menace,” adding, “I did not apportion Dr. Menace’s portion of the hearing loss.”

In July 2012, the Workers’ Compensation Administrative Law Judge (WCALJ) issued a “Findings and Award” and “Opinion on Decision” following proceedings held in April 2012 at which Borman was the only witness. The WCALJ found Borman’s injury ratable under the post-2004 Permanent Disability Ratings Schedule. The WCALJ also found Borman a straight-forward and credible witness, noting that during testimony he “clearly had difficulty understanding questions and had to face his questioners directly in order to ‘lip read’ as well as listen. His cochlear implants have improved his hearing but his hearing . . . is quite limited[,] . . . particular[ly] . . . in crowded or noisy environments, and [he] cannot function effectively on the phone.” The WCALJ found Borman effectively rebutted any Diminished Future Earnings Capacity (DFEC) and showed 100 percent loss of earning capacity entitling him to permanent and total disability. The WCALJ based the latter finding on expert vocational testimony proffered by Borman showing there was no job in the open labor market that could accommodate Borman’s “difficulty with oral communications, limitations with use of the upper extremities, limited mobility, need for daily narcotic medication, rests and serious headaches.’ Additionally, the WCALJ found that “Labor Code section 4664 is not pertinent as prior to the instant cumulative trauma injury there was no earnings loss due to the prior award of permanent disability for hearing loss,” reasoning that “Borman continued to work [after] the prior award for prior hearing loss, [and his] hearing loss progressed to the point where he required implants, which . . . have severe limitations.”

The WCAB summarily denied Acme’s petition for reconsideration. The Court of Appeal reversed in the unpublished case of Acme Steel v WCAB (Borman), finding that the WCALJ erred “by failing to address the issue of apportionment.” The clear intent of the Legislature in enacting Senate Bill No. 899 was to charge employers only with that percentage of permanent disability directly caused by the current industrial injury. “Here, the WCAB ignored substantial medical evidence presented by Dr. Schindler, as summarized above, showing that Borman’s 100 percent loss of hearing could not be attributed solely to the current cumulative trauma. ” The matter was “remanded to the WCAB with directions to order the WCALJ to make an award consistent with this opinion.”