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California Workers' Comp Case Roundup (12/2/2012)

December 02, 2012 (7 min read)
CALIFORNIA COMPENSATION CASES
Vol. 77 No. 11 Nov. 2012
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
© Copyright 2012 LexisNexis. All rights reserved.
Lexis.com subscribers can access the complete cases, headnotes, and summaries.
Appellate Court Compensation Cases
Adventist Health v. W.C.A.B. (Fletcher, Evelyn), 77 Cal. Comp. Cases 935
Primary Treating Physicians—Self-Procured Medical Treatment—Court of Appeal, annulling WCAB order granting applicant reimbursement for self-procured medical treatment, held that applicant was not entitled to reimbursement for treatment she received from physicians, when Court of Appeal found that …
Medical Reports—Court of Appeal, annulling WCAB order withholding physician’s medical reports from inclusion in applicant’s medical records, held that there was neither statutory authority nor good cause to sanction such order, when Court of Appeal found that …
Kroger Co., The v. W.C.A.B. (Rodriguez, Miguel), 77 Cal. Comp. Cases 945
Vocational Rehabilitation—Appeals—Court of Appeal, annulling WCAB decision, held that appeal by defendant from Rehabilitation Unit’s 11/7/2007 award to applicant of vocational rehabilitation maintenance allowance had been perfected prior to, and was pending on, 1/1/2009, date on which repeal of vocational rehabilitation became effective, making award not final and, thus, unenforceable, when Court of Appeal found that…
Appellate Court Cases Not Originating With Appeals Board
City of Pomona, The v. Heiselt (Leonard), 77 Cal. Comp. Cases 952
Civil Actions Against Employees—Permanent Injunctions—Workplace Violence—Court of Appeal held that there was substantial evidence to support Superior Court’s 5/20/2011 grant of employer’s request for permanent injunction against applicant/defendant and affirmed order for permanent injunction under Code of Civil Procedure § 527.8, when Court of Appeal found that…
Elijahjuan v. The Superior Court of Los Angeles County, 77 Cal. Comp. Cases 968
Employment Contracts—Arbitration—Employees or Independent Contractors—Court of Appeal, issuing peremptory writ of mandate commanding trial court to vacate its order compelling arbitration, held that …
Digests of WCAB Decisions Denied Judicial Review
Editorial Board members Francis V. Clifford, Hon. Jacqueline C. Duncan, Susan Hamilton, and James Pettibone recommended the following writ denied cases for summarization in this issue.
American Home Assurance v. W.C.A.B. (Serrano, Antenor), 77 Cal. Comp. Cases 984
Employment Relationships—General and Special Employers—WCAB upheld WCJ’s finding that applicant, who suffered admitted industrial injuries to his back and left knee while working as janitor on premises of Custom Building Products, after having been placed with Custom Building Products through temporary agency, was …
Barrow (Michael) v. W.C.A.B., 77 Cal. Comp. Cases 988
WCAB Jurisdiction—Extraterritorial Jurisdiction—WCAB held that it did not have jurisdiction over applicant’s claimed out-of-state industrial injuries under Labor Code §§ 3600.5(a) and 5305 because applicant’s contract of hire was not made in California, when WCAB found that…
City of Sacramento v. W.C.A.B. (Oakes, Timothy), 77 Cal. Comp. Cases 991
Presumption of Compensable Heart Trouble—Firefighters—Anti-Attribution Clause—WCAB held that anti-attribution clause in Labor Code § 3212 applied to applicant/firefighter’s claim for left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) suffered by applicant while engaged in training exercise at work, notwithstanding that…
County of Riverside v. W.C.A.B. (Hedden, Patricia), 77 Cal. Comp. Cases 995
Injury AOE/COE—Substantial Evidence—WCAB affirmed WCJ’s finding that applicant/registered nurse met burden of proving under Labor Code § 3202.5 that she suffered injury AOE/COE in form of cerebral stroke, and that WCJ did not err in relying on…
Geren (Judie) v. W.C.A.B., 77 Cal. Comp. Cases 999
Statute of Limitations—Cumulative Injuries—WCAB, rescinding WCJ’s finding, held that applicant/driver’s claim for injuries to her neck, back, psyche, and lower extremities during period 5/6/2004 to 5/6/2005 was barred by one-year statute of limitations in Labor Code § 5405(a), when WCAB found that…
The Limited v. W.C.A.B. (Dewey, Daphne), 77 Cal. Comp. Cases 1003
Permanent Disability—Permanent Total Disability—Rating—WCAB rescinded WCJ’s finding that applicant suffered 57 percent permanent disability, without apportionment, after suffering industrial injuries to her right palm, psyche, bilateral shoulders, bilateral upper extremities, and bilateral lower extremities as result of complex regional pain syndrome, and held that medical evidence and reporting of applicant’s vocational expert supported finding that applicant incurred 100 percent permanent total disability, when…
Pearson v. W.C.A.B. (Apparicio, Francisca), 77 Cal. Comp. Cases 1008
Medical Treatment—Home Health Care—WCAB held that lien claimant who provided home health care services to his spouse after she incurred specific and cumulative industrial injuries to her psyche, lumbar spine, right upper extremity, and in form of fibromyalgia, while employed as legal assistant, was entitled to…
Progress Rail Service v. W.C.A.B. (Keshishian, Ruben), 77 Cal. Comp. Cases 1012
Employment Relationships—Employees—WCAB upheld WCJ’s finding that applicant was employed as truck driver by defendant Progress Rail Co. on date of his injury, pursuant to factors in S.G. Borello & Sons, Inc. v. Department of Industrial Relations (1989) 48 Cal. 3d 341, 769 P.2d 399, 256 Cal. Rptr. 543, 54 Cal. Comp. Cases 80, when…
Serrano (Elsa) v. W.C.A.B., 77 Cal. Comp. Cases 1019
WCAB Procedure—Dismissal for Lack of Prosecution—Due Process—WCAB rescinded WCJ’s finding that, due to defective service of dismissal order, order dismissing applicant’s claims did not constitute final order of dismissal for lack of prosecution, when WCAB found that…
State of California/Dept. of Transportation v. W.C.A.B. (Edwards, Barbara), 77 Cal. Comp. Cases 1023
Permanent Disability—Rating—Permanent Total Disability—WCAB affirmed WCJ’s finding and reaffirmed its prior determination [see Edwards v. Caltrans, 2011 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS 429] that applicant/highway maintenance lead worker incurred 100 percent permanent disability without apportionment as result of…
Other WCAB Decisions Denied Judicial Review
California Pharmacy Management v. W.C.A.B. (Coffin, Thomas), 77 Cal. Comp. Cases 1027
Lien Claims—Medical Treatment—WCAB disallowed petitioner’s lien in its entirety because petitioner/lien claimant did not show identity of applicant’s primary treating physician, did not show that prescription medications it provided to applicant were prescribed by applicant’s primary treating physician or reviewed and incorporated by primary treating physician, and did not show that prescriptions were reasonably required to cure and relieve effects of applicant’s industrial injury, when WCAB found that…
Jac Pizza Inc. v. W.C.A.B. (Hoops, Lewis), 77 Cal. Comp. Cases 1029
Employment Status—WCAB held that applicant was defendant’s employee on 4/30/2011, not independent contractor, when WCAB found that…
Stater Bros. Markets v. W.C.A.B. (Jefferson, Eric), 77 Cal. Comp. Cases 1031
Injury AOE/COE—WCAB held that applicant sustained injury AOE/COE to his heart in period from 10/6/89 through 7/1/2006 from his work for defendant as meat clerk, meat cutter, and meat manager, based on applicant’s credible testimony and opinions from agreed medical evaluator, when WCAB found that…
Wardell (Roosevelt) v. W.C.A.B., 77 Cal. Comp. Cases 1032
Petitions for Removal—WCAB dismissed pro per applicant’s petition for removal as moot on 5/15/2012, when WCAB found that…
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