Montana State Fund v. Grande, 274 P.3d 728

Grande is a long-time truck driver who began working for Valcon in Oct 2005, driving propane tankers in the Northwest and Canada.
His job required repetitive hand use, gear shifting, hose handling, valve operation, and winter chain-ups weighing up to 75 pounds per chain.
Medical records show osteoarthritis and possible inflammatory (rheumatoid) arthritis with a family history of arthritis.
In Aug 2009 his arthritis worsened, especially in the right hand, impairing his ability to drive; he stopped working and resigned Aug 7, 2009.
Dr. Van Belois treated Grande, opining his arthritis was aggravated by job duties and was occupational in nature; Dr. Schumpert reviewed records and disagreed, saying his condition was rheumatoid/osteoarthritis not caused or aggravated by truck driving.
The Workers’ Compensation Court found the job duties were the major contributing cause of his arthritis and thus compensable; MSF’s liability was disputed and the appeal focused on causation standard under the 2009 WCA.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether Grande has a compensable occupational disease arising out of employment	Grande argues occupational factors significantly aggravated pre-existing arthritis.	MSF contends post-2005 standards require major contributing cause and that work did not majorly contribute.	Yes; WCC’s major contributing cause finding is upheld.
Whether temporary total disability and medical benefits were properly awarded	Grande seeks benefits as part of compensable occupational disease.	MSF argues threshold issue controls outcomes and benefits must be reversed if threshold fails.	Not reached on appeal since threshold issue affirmed.
Whether costs should be awarded to Grande	Grande prevailed on threshold issue and is entitled to costs.		Not reached on appeal since threshold issue affirmed.

Polk v. Planet Ins. Co., 287 Mont. 79, 951 P.2d 1015 (1997) (Mont. 1997) (established pre-2005 standard allowing aggravated but not necessarily primary factor in occupational disease)
Hardgrove v. Transportation Ins. Co., 324 Mont. 238, 103 P.3d 999 (2004) (Mont. 2004) (last day of work governs which version of WCA applies)
Grenz v. Fire & Cas., 278 Mont. 268, 924 P.2d 264 (1996) (Mont. 1996) (causation standards for occupational disease before Polk)
EBI/Orion Group v. Blythe, 288 Mont. 356, 957 P.2d 1134 (1997) (Mont. 1997) (weight given to treating physicians; deference to WCC findings)
Kloepfer v. Lumbermen's Mut. Cas. Co., 276 Mont. 495, 916 P.2d 1310 (1996) (Mont. 1996) (fact-finder credibility and witness evaluation)
Polk v. Planet Ins. Co., 287 Mont. 79, 951 P.2d 1015 (1997) (Mont. 1997) (reaffirmed whether occupational factors significantly aggravate a pre-existing condition)