Court of Appeals Denies Occupational Disease Claim
In Serrato v. Tyson Foods, Inc. , No. 11-1186 (Iowa App. March 28, 2012), the Court of Appeals denied the claim that claimant suffered from COPD as a result of his occupational exposures at a meatpacking plant. Claimant had argued that chemical residues left on the machines at the plant as a part of his duties cleaning the plant had led to his COPD. The case was originally analyzed by the deputy as an injury case under Chapter 85, but was adjudicated at the commissioner's level as an occupational disease under Chapter 85A. The claim was denied at both the deputy and commissioner levels, which noted that there was little evidence directly linking claimant's exposures at work to his COPD. One of claimant's doctors indicated that work at Tyson was an aggravating factor, but all the doctors noted that claimant's 1-3 pack per day cigarette smoking was of greater consequence in causing the COPD. The commissioner concluded, based on his review of claimant'...