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California Compensation Cases October 2024

October 14, 2024 (4 min read)

CALIFORNIA COMPENSATION CASES

Vol. 89, No. 10 October 2024

A Report of En Banc and Significant Panel Decisions of the WCAB and Selected Court Opinions of Related Interest, With a Digest of WCAB Decisions Denied Judicial Review

CONTENTS OF THIS ISSUE

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Federal Circuit Court Opinion of Related Interest

United States of America v. Solakyan

Workers’ Compensation Insurance Fraud—Honest-Services Mail Fraud and Health-Care Fraud—Restitution—U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit, affirmed defendant’s conviction for conspiracy to commit honest-services mail fraud and health-care fraud, where defendant, who owned…

Digests of WCAB Decisions Denied Judicial Review

Chevron Corporation v. W.C.A.B. (Gao, Limin)

Psychiatric Injury—Good Faith Personnel Actions—WCAB, granting reconsideration and rescinding WCJ’s decision in split panel opinion, held that applicant suffered injury AOE/COE to her psyche and that…

K&N Engineering v. W.C.A.B. (Rodriguez, Janeth)

Post-Termination Claims—WCAB, after granting reconsideration, affirmed WCJ’s finding that applicant’s claim for cumulative injury to her hands, wrists, left shoulder, and neck while working as receiver during…

Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transit Authority v. W.C.A.B. (Burton, Linda)

Medical Treatment—Utilization Review—Termination of Inpatient Care —Change of Circumstances—WCAB, denying reconsideration, affirmed WCJ’s finding that based on rationale in Patterson v. The Oaks Farm…

Nelson (Tiffany) v. W.C.A.B.

Permanent Disability—Rating and Apportionment—Rebuttal of Scheduled Rating—WCAB, granting reconsideration, concluded that apportionment opinions of evaluating physicians were not substantial evidence…

Other WCAB Decisions Denied Judicial Review

Lucia Mar Unified School District v. W.C.A.B. (Castillo, Laura)

Petitions for Writ of Review—Untimely Petitions—Court of Appeal dismissed defendant’s Petition for Writ of Review as untimely, when defendant filed Petition five days after expiration of jurisdictional 45-day…

Vazquez Montes (Jose Enrique) v. W.C.A.B.

Petitions for Writ of Review—Scope of Appellate Review—Court of Appeal denied pro per applicant’s petition for writ of review because it…

Appeals Board Panel Decisions

Lopez (Domonique) v. Albertsons

Medical-Legal Procedure—Treating Physician’s Report as Reimbursable Medical-Legal Expense——WCAB, granting reconsideration, rescinded decision in which WCJ determined that report of treating physician obtained by applicant to address issue of causation was not reimbursable medical-legal expense as applicant was only entitled to obtain report from panel qualified medical evaluator (PQME) under Labor Code § 4062.2, when WCAB reasoned that…

Raya (Geoffrey) v. County of Riverside

Statute of Limitations—Cumulative Injury—Date of Injury—WCAB, after granting reconsideration, affirmed WCJ’s finding that applicant’s claim for industrial injury in form of testicular cancer incurred while employed as deputy sheriff from 5/1/94 to 6/20/2008 was not barred by one-year statute…

Reveles (Jennifer) v. State of California

Discovery—Medical Evidence—WCAB, granting removal, rescinded WCJ’s order requiring applicant to disclose all medical treatment she had received during last 10 years to her neck, upper extremities and wrists, and returned matter to trial level for further proceedings, when WCJ’s…

Rose (Michael) v. Los Angeles Dodgers

Medical-Legal Procedure—Self-Procured Medical Reports—Admissibility—WCAB, granting reconsideration and affirming WCJ’s finding, held that reports of orthopedist, neurologist, otolaryngologist, and psychiatrist self-procured by applicant in connection with his claim for industrial injury to multiple body parts incurred while…

Cumulative Injury—Date of Injury—WCAB, after granting reconsideration, upheld WCJ’s finding that applicant’s Labor Code § 5412 date of injury for cumulative trauma to multiple body parts incurred while playing professional baseball from 6/5/95 to 9/2/2010 was 9/16/2013, based on…

Permanent Disability—Rating—Presumption of Permanent Total Disability—Mental Incapacity—WCAB, granting reconsideration, rescinded WCJ’s finding that applicant who suffered brain injury (in addition to other injuries) while playing professional baseball from 6/5/95 to 9/2/2010 did not suffer cognitive impairment of sufficient severity to justify application of Labor Code § 4662(a)(4)’s conclusive presumption of permanent total disability for mental incapacity, and WCAB deferred issue of applicability of Labor Code § 4662(a)(4) pending further development of medical evidence addressing this issue, when…

Permanent Disability—Rating—Rebuttal of Scheduled Rating—WCAB, after granting reconsideration, affirmed WCJ’s decision that there was no basis to find applicant professional baseball player’s disability permanent and total “in accordance with the fact” pursuant to Labor Code § 4662(b) or based on his diminished future earning capacity, when…

Psychiatric Injury—Burden of Proof—Predominant Cause Standard—WCAB, granting reconsideration, rescinded WCJ’s finding that applicant professional baseball player suffered compensable psychiatric injury as part of his claim for cumulative trauma from 6/5/95 to 9/2/2010, when…

Permanent Disability—WCAB’s Reservation of Jurisdiction for Progressive Insidious Diseases—WCAB, granting reconsideration, returned matter to trial level on issue of whether applicant who suffered cumulative trauma to multiple body parts while playing professional baseball from 6/5/95 to 9/2/2010 sustained chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in addition to his other alleged injuries and, if so, whether CTE constitutes insidious and progressive disease warranting WCAB’s reservation of jurisdiction over issue of permanent disability pursuant to General Foundry Service v. W.C.A.B. (Jackson) (1986) 42 Cal. 3d 331, 721 P.2d 124, 228 Cal. Rtpr. 243, 51 Cal. Comp. Cases 375, when…