Harris v. State Accident Insurance Fund Corp.

The issue in this workers’ compensation case is the extent of unscheduled disability for a low back injury. By the determination order claimant was awarded 40 percent; after a hearing the referee awarded 60 percent; the Workers’ Compensation Board reduced the award to 40 percent. Claimant appeals.

Claimant is a 49-year-old logging-truck driver with a 7th grade education and work experience primarily in heavy physical labor. In 1964, he injured his low back in a work-connected fall in California; in 1965, he underwent a laminectomy and fusion; in 1966, the fusion was surgically repaired.…