Berry v. Workmen's Compensation Appeals Board

We are called upon to decide whether there is substantial evidence in the record to support a finding of the Workmen’s Compensation Appeals Board (hereinafter board) that half of petitioner William Berry’s disability is due to a preexisting physical impairment and half to an industrial injury. The evidence compels our conclusion that his entire disability is the result of an industrial injury.

In May 1964, Berry hit his left knee on a dresser while moving it up a flight of stairs in the course of his employment. The knee became swollen, painful and filled with fluid. A number of doctors who…