Gilbert v. Cavenham Forest Industries Division

The Workers’ Compensation Board (Board) rejected claimant’s attempt to expand the scope of a previously accepted claim. We affirm.

Claimant first compensably injured his low back working for a previous employer in 1963. Two surgeries, a lumbar laminectomy in 1963 and a lumbar fusion in 1965, alleviated his pain for 15 years, during which he performed unlimited strenuous labor. Then, in January 1980, he fell from a machine at work and again injured his low back. He filed a claim for workers’ compensation and ultimately received an award of 62.5 percent unscheduled permanent partial disability.

In…