Employment — OSHA

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United States Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit

Civil

Employment — OSHA

Where an employee’s medical condition had never occurred before, it was improper to impose a fine against the employer for failing to report it as a work-related injury.

“The big consideration missing from the ALJ’s analysis is Caterpillar Logistics’ 300-person-years of experience with its packing department. Epicondylitis occurs at a rate of about 1% to 2% per year in the general population. (Or so the parties tell us.) This implies that Caterpillar Logistics should have encountered between three and six cases of epicondylitis among the staff of the packing department if work played no causal role at all. It actually had one case (MK’s). If conditions in the packing department do cause or contribute to epicondylitis, the condition should occur at levels exceeding those of the populace at large. The record does not show an elevated incidence.”

Petition Granted.

11-2958 Caterpillar Logistics Services Inc. v. Solis

Petition for Review of an Order of the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission, Easterbrook, J.