What the panel ordered
WCJ's October 18, 2020 Joint Findings of Fact affirmed
Petition for Reconsideration granted to study legal and factual issues; Decision After Reconsideration issued affirming WCJ's October 18, 2020 Joint Findings of Fact
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 that death benefits claim in ADJ8129185 was barred by section 5406(b) due to untimely filing, but claims in ADJ11011618 and ADJ11011740 were timely filed within 240 weeks and one year of death, and the WCAB affirmed this finding.
From the decision · page 3The WCJ issued Joint Findings of Fact on October 18, 2020, determining that applicants' claim for death benefits in Case No. ADJ8129185 (injury through December 1, 2011) was barred under Section 5406(b). (Finding of Fact No. 2). The WCJ further found that defendant failed in its burden of proof to establish that benefits were barred under Section 5406(b) in ADJ11011618 (May 4, 2016 injury) and in ADJ11011740 (injury through June 10, 2016). (Finding of Fact No. 5.) In the Opinion on Decision, the WCJ observed that the application for adjudication of claim (death benefits) listed both Case Nos. ADJ11011618 and ADJ11011740, and because both of those cases were within the requisite one year of date of death and 240 weeks from date of injury, the application was timely filed as to those claimed injuries. The WCJ further determined section 5410 would not preclude applicant from seeking death benefits. (Finding of Fact No. 6.)