City of Littleton v. Industrial Claim Appeals Office

Summary

The court held that the firefighter statute creates a substantive but rebuttable presumption that a qualifying firefighter's listed cancer is work-related, shifting to the employer the burden of persuasion by a preponderance of the medical evidence. The employer may rebut the presumption by proving either that typical occupational exposures cannot cause the type of cancer involved or that the employment did not cause the particular cancer. Because the employer's medical evidence supported the administrative law judge's findings, the court reversed the court of appeals and remanded for reinstatement of the administrative law judge's original order.