What the panel ordered
Petition for Reconsideration denied; OACR remains valid and enforceable.
Applicant sought reconsideration of the WCJ's Findings and Order upholding the validity and enforceability of the Order Approving Compromise and Release (OACR); WCAB panel reviews and denies reconsideration.
This docket was decided more than once. Shown here is the latest released decision; we also hold November 30, 2023.
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.
Section 5814(c) presumes that any accrued claims for penalty are resolved by approval of a C&R unless expressly excluded; applicant's penalty claim was not excluded in the C&R, so it is deemed resolved and not recoverable.
From the decision · page 7Here, applicant asserts that she is owed penalties in connection with this settlement; applicant does not otherwise seek to set aside any other terms of the agreement. However, section 5814(c) makes clear that if pending claims for penalties are not specifically excluded in the C&R, then an injured worker is not entitled to them. Applicant's Petition for Penalties was outstanding at the time of the settlement and was not excluded by the terms of the settlement. Thus, once the WCJ approved the C&R, it is presumed that the Petition for Penalties was resolved.