Hewlett-Packard Co. v. Leonard

Employer seeks review of an order of the Workers’ Compensation Board (Board) setting aside a denial of claimant’s current low back condition. Employer contends that principles of claim preclusion bar claimant’s claim, because he failed to assert the compensability of his current condition in an earlier hearing on the question whether employer prematurely closed his original claim. The Board held that the earlier hearing provided no opportunity to establish the compensability of the current condition, because the sole issue at that point was whether employer prematurely closed the original…