What the panel ordered
Findings of Fact of January 28, 2025 rescinded; matter returned to trial level for further proceedings consistent with this decision.p. 2
Defendant sought reconsideration of the Findings of Fact issued on January 28, 2025, by a WCJ, which found applicant sustained injury to right ear and claimed injury to left ear, causing 43% permanent disability without apportionment. The WCAB granted reconsideration, rescinded the January 28, 2025 Findings, and returned the matter to trial level for further proceedings consistent with this decision.
This docket was decided more than once. Shown here is the latest released decision; we also hold May 2, 2025.
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 WCJ found 43% permanent disability without apportionment; defendant contended QME Dr. Ronald Ward's opinion supported apportionment; the WCAB rescinded the WCJ's findings and returned the matter for further proceedings, leaving the apportionment issue unresolved.
From the decision · page 1Defendant sought reconsideration of the Findings of Fact issued on January 28, 2025, by a workers’ compensation administrative law judge (WCJ). Therein, the WCJ found in pertinent part that applicant sustained injury arising out of and in the course of employment to the right ear and claims injury to the left ear, while employed by defendant on June 21, 2019, as a panel installer; and that applicant’s injury caused 43% permanent disability without apportionment. Defendant contends that the opinion of qualified medical evaluator (QME) Ronald Ward, M.D., is substantial medical evidence to support apportionment of applicant’s disability. We did not receive an answer.
The facts that decided it
What the panel treated as outcome-determinative, and which side it favoured.
Applicant sustained injury to right ear and claimed injury to left ear on June 21, 2019, while employed as panel installer.
Favours Applicant prevailed
This fact establishes the basis for the permanent disability and apportionment dispute.
From the decision · page 1Defendant sought reconsideration of the Findings of Fact issued on January 28, 2025, by a workers’ compensation administrative law judge (WCJ). Therein, the WCJ found in pertinent part that applicant sustained injury arising out of and in the course of employment to the right ear and claims injury to the left ear, while employed by defendant on June 21, 2019, as a panel installer; and that applicant’s injury caused 43% permanent disability without apportionment. Defendant contends that the opinion of qualified medical evaluator (QME) Ronald Ward, M.D., is substantial medical evidence to support apportionment of applicant’s disability. We did not receive an answer.
What the panel did with the medical opinions
The role the physician served, and the weight the opinion carried. Physicians are named here as the decision names them; we do not score them.
Provided opinion supporting apportionment of applicant's disability.
From the decision · page 1Defendant sought reconsideration of the Findings of Fact issued on January 28, 2025, by a workers’ compensation administrative law judge (WCJ). Therein, the WCJ found in pertinent part that applicant sustained injury arising out of and in the course of employment to the right ear and claims injury to the left ear, while employed by defendant on June 21, 2019, as a panel installer; and that applicant’s injury caused 43% permanent disability without apportionment. Defendant contends that the opinion of qualified medical evaluator (QME) Ronald Ward, M.D., is substantial medical evidence to support apportionment of applicant’s disability. We did not receive an answer.
The rules the panel named
Authorities as the decision cited them, with how this panel applied each one.
Labor Code
Applied in context of apportionment dispute.
From the decision · page 1Defendant sought reconsideration of the Findings of Fact issued on January 28, 2025, by a workers’ compensation administrative law judge (WCJ). Therein, the WCJ found in pertinent part that applicant sustained injury arising out of and in the course of employment to the right ear and claims injury to the left ear, while employed by defendant on June 21, 2019, as a panel installer; and that applicant’s injury caused 43% permanent disability without apportionment. Defendant contends that the opinion of qualified medical evaluator (QME) Ronald Ward, M.D., is substantial medical evidence to support apportionment of applicant’s disability. We did not receive an answer.
The same issues, filtered across the whole corpus — or paste your own facts and let the search rank by factor match.
About this page
- A published decision of the California Workers' Compensation Appeals Board, taken apart by what it turned on. The Board publishes the decision itself; this page adds the extraction and quotes the passage behind every claim.
- The injured worker is not named here, and the case caption is not printed. Physicians appear as the decision names them, because a medical opinion is an act in a public proceeding.
- Issues, outcomes and weights were extracted by AI and released only where the source passage checked. Read the official decision before relying on anything here. Not legal advice.
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