What the panel ordered
Petition for Reconsideration granted; January 16, 2024 Findings of Fact and Award rescinded; matter returned to trial level for further proceedings.
Applicant filed a Petition for Reconsideration of the January 16, 2024 Findings of Fact and Award; the WCAB granted reconsideration, rescinded the January 16, 2024 decision, and returned the matter to the trial level for further proceedings.
What was disputed, and how it came out
Each issue the panel decided, with the reasoning it gave. An outcome is what this panel did on this record — not a rule, and not a prediction.
The WCAB found that the vocational expert's report did not constitute substantial evidence due to its failure to properly address medical apportionment and the inclusion of a nonindustrial lumbar spine injury. The Board granted reconsideration to allow further development of the record to properly adjudicate permanent disability and apportionment issues.
From the decision · page 1Applicant seeks reconsideration of the January 16, 2024 Findings of Fact and Award (F&A), wherein the workers' compensation administrative law judge (WCJ) found that applicant, while employed as an in-home support worker during the cumulative period ending May 20, 2018, sustained industrial injury to her heart, hypertension, bilateral knees, bilateral hands, cervical spine, thoracic spine, and psyche. The WCJ found that applicant sustained permanent partial disability of 81 percent and awarded corresponding indemnity and a life pension.