ATE Fixture Fab v. Wagner

A judge issued to a nonsmoking workers’ compensation claimant an award of “permanent total disability benefits for acceleration or aggravation of his obstructive lung disease due to inhalation of secondary tobacco smoke present in his work environment”; the employer appealed.  The appellate court ruled that, while “aggravation of pre-existing emphysema can be caused by work-related exposure to secondary tobacco smoke,” the award in this case had to be reversed because more specific evidence needed to be introduced on the causal connection between this employee’s condition and his exposure to secondhand smoke on the job.

559 So.2d 635, 5.3 TPLR 2.110 (Fla.App.1 Dist. 1990).