Appellate Court Affirms Rejection of Benefits for Rubber Plant Worker

HARRISBURG, Pa. - A Pennsylvania court has affirmed an order denying workers' compensation benefits to a rubber plant worker who claims that his malignant gastrointestinal carcinoid tumor was caused by exposure to carbon black and other chemicals at a rubber producing plant. Bartley v. Workers' Compensation Appeal Board, et al., No. 236 C.D. 2010 (Pa. Cmmwlth. Ct.).

The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania issued the ruling on Aug. 5, rejecting Russell Bartley's assertion that he was held to a higher burden of proof for an occupational disease than an injury.

Bartley worked at two different rubber plants from 1974 to 2004, …