McAdams v. Saif Corp.

Claimant appeals from a Workers’ Compensation Board order denying compensation for injuries he received as a result of a fall at work. The issue is whether claimant’s fall was “unexplained” in the sense that the reason for falling is unknown, or whether his fall was “idiopathic,” that is, the reason is known but is personal to claimant rather than work-related. As the Supreme Court pointed out in Phil A. Livesley Co. v. Russ, 296 Or 25, 672 P2d 337 (1983), if a claimant’s fall is unexplained, it is compensable, but if it is idiopathic, it is not.1 The Board held that claimant’s fall was…