An employer cannot use an ergonomics report, showing that a work injury is statistically unlikely, to deny a workers’ compensation claim, the South Carolina Supreme Court said this week in an opinion that sharply questioned an appellate panel’s decision making.
“Individual cases must be decided by the facts of the case and applicable law, not statistical probabilities,” the court wrote in its April 10 opinion. “Using statistical probabilities to determine if an individual worker sustained a work-related injury would eviscerate the Grand Bargain” that the workers’ compensation system is built on.
Moreover, the justices wrote, m