Background
Jared McGinnis, a roof bolter for ACNR Resources, reported that a high-pressure hose struck his right knee at work on December 14, 2024. The claim was initially held compensable for an unspecified right-knee sprain. Although McGinnis improved with treatment, he continued to have anterior knee pain, weakness, and difficulty with stairs, ladders, kneeling, and other work duties. He returned to work briefly in March 2025 but stopped after his symptoms worsened.
ACNR’s independent medical examiner concluded that McGinnis had reached maximum medical improvement and needed no further treatment. The claim administrator consequently denied additional physical therapy, an MRI, a re-evaluation with Dr. Ronald Sismondo, surgery, and the addition of patellar tendinopathy as a compensable condition; it also suspended and closed temporary total disability benefits. The Board of Review reversed, finding that McGinnis had worked full duty without right-knee symptoms after his 2017 prepatellar-bursa surgery until the 2024 work injury and that the post-injury symptoms persisted.
The Court’s Holding
The Intermediate Court of Appeals affirmed the Board of Review’s January 5, 2026, order in full. It held that substantial evidence supported adding patellar tendinopathy as a compensable condition under the presumption recognized in Moore v. ICG Tygart Valley, LLC: McGinnis’s knee was asymptomatic before the 2024 injury, symptoms appeared afterward and continued, and the record supported a causal connection.
The court agreed that the opinions of ACNR’s physicians were unpersuasive because they lacked complete information about McGinnis’s condition between his 2017 surgery and the 2024 accident. Because patellar tendinopathy was compensable, the court upheld authorization for twelve physical-therapy sessions, a right-knee MRI, a re-evaluation with Dr. Sismondo, and distal patellar-tendon debridement and repair. It also upheld the Board’s conclusion that McGinnis was prematurely found to be at maximum medical improvement and that closure of temporary total disability benefits was premature.
Key Takeaways
- An asymptomatic preexisting condition that becomes symptomatic after a workplace injury may be presumed related to the compensable injury when the record supports causation.
- An employer’s medical causation opinion may be discounted where it does not account for the claimant’s condition during a material period.
- Once the newly added condition was compensable, the Board could authorize treatment and find that maximum medical improvement and termination of temporary total disability benefits were premature.
Why It Matters
The decision illustrates the deference West Virginia appellate courts give the Workers’ Compensation Board of Review when substantial evidence supports its factual findings. A prior surgery or injury does not itself defeat compensability where the claimant was symptom-free and working full duty before the new workplace incident.
For employers and claimants, the case also underscores that medical opinions addressing causation should account for the claimant’s functional and treatment history between an older injury and the claimed workplace aggravation.