Cooper v. State Accident Insurance Fund Corp.

Claimant appeals the denial of his workers’ compensation claim. He pressed his claim as either a compensable injury or an occupational disease. No party has chosen one or the other theory exclusively. The referee denied the claim. On review the Board affirmed the denial. The central question is compensability. If we determine the claim to be compensable, we must then determine the responsible carrier. We review de novo, ORS 656.298(6), and affirm.

The essential facts are not seriously disputed. Claimant is 57 years old. He worked for 20 years at Rosboro Lumber Company as a core layer in the…