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2018 Georgia Code 34-9-285 | Car Wreck Lawyer

Link to State of Georgia Official Statute 2018 Georgia Code Annotated (sourced from legal.resource.org)
O.C.G.A. 34-9-285 Case Law from Google Scholar Amendments to OCGA 34-9-285

TITLE 34 LABOR AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS

Section 9. Workers' Compensation, 34-9-1 through 34-9-432.

ARTICLE 8 COMPENSATION FOR OCCUPATIONAL DISEASE

34-9-285. Noncompensable disease or infirmity.

Where an occupational disease is aggravated by any other disease or infirmity not itself compensable or where disability or death from any other cause not itself compensable is aggravated, prolonged, accelerated, or in any other way contributed to by an occupational disease, the compensation payable shall be reduced and limited only to such proportion of the compensation that would be payable if the occupational disease were the sole cause of the disability or death as such occupational disease, as the causative factor, bears to all the causes of such disability or death. Compensation shall be adjusted by reducing the number of weekly payments or the amounts of such payments as, in the circumstances of the particular case, may be determined by the board.

(Code 1933, § 114-805, enacted by Ga. L. 1946, p. 103.)

Code Commission notes.

- Pursuant to Code Section 28-9-5, in 1988, "way" was substituted for "wise" in the first sentence.

Law reviews.

- For article discussing apportioning disability losses in cases of psychological injury, see 16 Ga. St. B. J. 18 (1979).

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Section constitutional.

- O.C.G.A. § 34-9-285, in authorizing disparate treatment of occupational diseases and other injuries compensable under the Workers' Compensation Act, O.C.G.A. § 34-9-1 et seq., does not violate constitutional guarantees of equal protection. Price v. Lithonia Lighting Co., 256 Ga. 49, 343 S.E.2d 688 (1986).

O.C.G.A. § 34-9-285 is rationally related to a legitimate state interest and does not violate the Fourteenth Amendment's equal protection clause. Price v. Tanner, 855 F.2d 820 (11th Cir. 1988), cert. denied, 489 U.S. 1081, 109 S. Ct. 1534, 103 L. Ed. 2d 839 (1989).

Partial disability.

- The law does not contemplate such a thing as partial disability in the occupational disease statute, except when, under the provisions of Ga. L. 1946, p. 103, the condition results in part from an occupational disease and in part from some other condition not compensable, in which event the compensation is reduced proportionately. Yates v. United States Rubber Co., 100 Ga. App. 583, 112 S.E.2d 182 (1959).

No apportionment between work-related and congenital causes.

- Workers' Compensation Act, O.C.G.A. § 34-9-1 et seq., does not provide for apportionment of benefits between work-related and congenital causes. SMB Stage Line v. Leach, 204 Ga. App. 229, 418 S.E.2d 791 (1992).

Cited in Whitaker v. Fieldcrest Mills, Inc., 174 Ga. App. 533, 330 S.E.2d 761 (1985).

RESEARCH REFERENCES

Am. Jur. 2d.

- 82 Am. Jur. 2d, Workers' Compensation, § 311 et seq.

ALR.

- Workmen's compensation: construction and effect of provisions in relation to new or new and further disability, 72 A.L.R. 1125.

Cases Citing O.C.G.A. § 34-9-285

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Price v. Lithonia Lighting Co., 343 S.E.2d 688 (Ga. 1986).

Cited 13 times | Published | Supreme Court of Georgia | May 29, 1986 | 256 Ga. 49

...Hazelton & Sweet, John F. Sweet, for appellant. George L Pope, Jr., for appellee. MARSHALL, Chief Justice. We granted the appellant's application for discretionary appeal in this workers' compensation case. The question for decision concerns the constitutionality of OCGA § 34-9-285. Where an occupational disease aggravates, or is aggravated by a noncompensable disease or infirmity, § 34-9-285 provides that the workers' compensation award will be "limited only to such proportion of the compensation that would be payable if the occupational disease were the sole cause of the disability or death as such occupational disease, as the causative factor, bears to all the causes of such disability or death." However, where an occupational disease is not involved, the Workers' Compensation Act (referred to hereinafter at times as the Act) contains no provision comparable to § 34-9-285....
...rcent of her disability is attributable to the aggravation of her condition as a result of her *50 employment. The full board adopted the findings of the medical board, and the appellant was awarded an indemnity benefit of $13.50 per week under OCGA § 34-9-285, supra, which provides: "Where an occupational disease is aggravated by any other disease or infirmity not itself compensable or where disability or death from any other cause not itself compensable is aggravated, prolonged, accelerated,...
...ity or death. Compensation shall be adjusted by reducing the number of weekly payments or the amounts of such payments as, in the circumstances of the particular case, may be determined by the board." Before the full board, the appellant argued that § 34-9-285 violates the Equal Protection Clauses of the United States and Georgia Constitutions. This argument was rejected. The appellant appealed the award of the full board to the Rockdale Superior Court under OCGA § 34-9-105. She again advanced the argument that § 34-9-285 unconstitutionally denies her equal protection. The superior court affirmed the award. We granted the appellant's application for discretionary appeal for the purpose of determining whether § 34-9-285 is unconstitutional, as argued by the appellant....
...174, 179 (326 SE2d 470) (1985) (Gregory, J., dissenting). 3. The occupational-disease provisions of the Workers' Compensation Act are now found in Art. 8 of OCGA Title 34. OCGA § 34-9-280 et seq. As previously stated, the provision in controversy in this case, § 34-9-285, mandates that where an occupational disease and some other noncompensable disease or infirmity coexist, "the compensation payable shall be reduced and limited only to such proportion of the compensation that would be payable if the occup...
...ll the causes of such *52 disability or death." However, as previously stated, where neither the pre-existing condition nor the compensable injury constitutes an occupational disease, the Workers' Compensation Act contains no provision comparable to § 34-9-285, and the cases simply hold that aggravation of the pre-existing injury or infirmity is compensable as a "new accident." E. g., Cotton States Ins. Co. v. Rutledge, 139 Ga. App. 729, 730 (229 SE2d 531) (1976). We disagree with the appellant's argument that this disparity in treatment violates the Equal Protection Clause. "In reviewing the charge that [ § 34-9-285] violates the equal protection guarantees of the Federal and State Constitutions, this court will apply a rational basis standard of review....
...D. Ga. 1982), citing McIntyre v. E. J. Lavino & Co., 25 A2d 163, 164-165 (Pa. 1942). The appellee argues that this difficulty in determining when such an aggravating injury occurs in an occupational-disease case warrants the legislative enactment of § 34-9-285 to apportion benefits according to the percentage of disability which properly can be related to any occupational disease....
...the "average weekly wages of the injured employee" is subject to limitations as to minimum amounts provided for in § 34-9-261. Accordingly, although we hold that the superior court was correct in denying the appellant's constitutional challenge to § 34-9-285, we vacate the judgment and remand the case to the superior court with the direction that the award be amended by substituting the amount of $25 per week in place of the $13.50 per week contained in the *54 award of the full board....