Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores Inc. and Sedgwick Claims Management Services Inc. aren’t obligated to cover the nonoccupational cancer treatment a worker needed before he could receive treatment for his compensable back injury, Florida’s 1st District Court of Appeal ruled Tuesday.

James brown was employed by Sears Outlet when he suffered a compensable back injury in July 2010, court records show.

Though the records don’t specify how Mr. Brown was injured, media reports say he was injured while moving a heavy cabinet.

Mr. Brown underwent low back surgery to treat his injury, but he continued to experience pain, according to records.

Sears Outlet and Sedgwick authorized a second back surgery, though it wasn’t carried out because an MRI of Mr. Brown’s lumbar spine showed a right kidney mass indicating renal cancer, records show.

Sears Outlet authorized a urologist to clear Mr. Brown for the proposed second back surgery. However, the urologist referred Mr. Brown to a hospital for further testing, according to records.

Without Sears Outlet’s consent, recommended kidney diagnostics and surgery were performed on Mr. Brown at the hospital “on an unauthorized, non-emergency basis,” records show. After Mr. Brown’s kidney was removed, he asked Sears Outlet to pay for his medical treatment.

According to records, physicians opined that the kidney mass needed to be removed before Mr. Brown could receive additional treatment for his back injury.

A Florida judge of compensation claims required Sears Outlet and Sedgwick to pay for all costs related to Mr. Brown’s renal cancer treatment, records show.

The judge applied Florida’s hindrance-to-recovery doctrine, which states that a non-occupational injury should be treated to remove a hindrance to treating a compensable injury, according to records. The judge also said Mr. Brown’s failure to request authorization from his employer for the kidney surgery was excused under the state’s self-help provision.

Sears Outlet and Sedgwick appealed and, on Tuesday, a panel of the Florida 1st District Court of Appeal in Tallahassee reversed the award of medical costs related to Mr. Brown’s renal cancer.

Before an injured worker can recover any amount for initial treatment or care, “there must be a specific request for the initial treatment or care, and the employer or carrier must be given a reasonable time period within which to provide the initial treatment or care,” the ruling states.

Mr. Brown didn’t “specifically request” that Sears Outlet pay for the treatment and care recommended to him by the urologist and the hospital, according to the ruling.

In addition, the urologist reported it was unlikely that Mr. Brown’s kidney condition was related to his compensable back injury, the ruling states.