A bank robbery victim who sustains a psych injury has 37% related to the industrial injury and 63% related to marital problems. Is the case compensable?

• A. Yes
• B. Not compensable
• C. Compensable only for medical care
• D. Compensable if the industrial injury is a substantial cause.

Answer: (C)

The key idea is apportionment of responsibility between work-related and non-work-related causes in California workers’ compensation. When a psychiatric injury has multiple contributing factors, benefits for permanent disability are awarded only to the portion caused by the work-related factor if that factor is a substantial contributing cause. If the non-work factors are the predominant cause and the work factor is not a substantial contributor to the disability, there’s no wage-replacement or permanent-disability indemnity, though medical treatment can still be provided for the work-related portion.

Here, the psych injury is 37% due to the industrial event and 63% due to marital problems. The industrial factor is not the substantial cause of the overall disability—the non-industrial factors dominate. Therefore, benefits for wage loss or permanent disability don’t apply. The industrial portion is still eligible for medical treatment, so the case is compensable only for medical care.