Proof: Sufficiency

Guymon v. Montana State Fund [06/28/16] 2016 MTWCC 7 Where this Court concluded that the medical opinion the claimant offered to establish causation was based on misinformation, the claimant failed to meet his burden of proof that an accident caused his left-shoulder condition as required by § 39-71-119, MCA.

Hartung v. Montana State Fund [03/15/16] 2016 MTWCC 3 Where the claimant did not present expert testimony as to whether he was capable of understanding a settlement agreement, he was never declared incompetent nor had a guardian or conservator appointed, and he entered into other contracts including two marriages, a divorce, and an attorney retainer agreement, this Court concluded that the claimant failed to prove that he was incapable of understanding the documents pertaining to his settlement agreement when they were read to him.
Hopkins v. Uninsured Employers' Fund [11/05/10] 2010 MTWCC 29 When moving the Court for an order staying judgment and waiving the posting of a supersedeas bond, offering to provide proof – rather than providing the proof -- is insufficient to satisfy the Court that adequate security exists for the payment of the judgment.
Russell v. Watkins & Shepard [07/11/08] 2008 MTWCC 36 Where two well-qualified specialists attributed Petitioner’s cognitive difficulties to his carbon monoxide exposure and the objective medical finding of T2 weighted hyperintensities in Petitioner’s brain support their conclusion, and where the doctors approached the diagnosis in a conservative and skeptical manner, their opinions were particularly persuasive to the Court.
Iron v. Montana State Fund [04/10/08] 2008 MTWCC 15 Where the only evidence that would tend to support Petitioner’s claim of a cervical injury is a correlation in chronology and where the doctor upon whose opinion he relies testifies that “it can be either/or” in response to questioning as to whether Petitioner’s condition was caused by a trauma or not, Petitioner has not met his burden of proof.

UEF v. Keith Grant [4/23/04] 2004 MTWCC 38 Unsworn and unsupported accusations of an uninsured employer regarding causation of a claimant's condition are entitled to no weight, especially where the evidence indicates that the employer has attempted to evade workers' compensation insurance requirements.