What the panel ordered
Findings of Fact, Order and Opinion on Decision issued by the WCJ on April 12, 2021 is affirmed; Award set aside and further development of the record ordered.
Defendant petitioned for reconsideration of the WCJ's April 12, 2021 Findings of Fact, Order and Opinion on Decision, which set aside an Award based on stipulations and ordered further development of the record.
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, and the Board affirmed, that the QME's report was not substantial evidence and could not support the Award, constituting good cause to set aside the Award and order further development of the record.
From the decision · page 3The hearing on applicant's petition took place almost two years later on March 9, 2021. Each party appeared at the hearing and had the opportunity to submit evidence and call witnesses. On April 12, 2021, the WCJ issued the Findings of Fact, Order and Opinion on Decision. In his decision, he concluded that the QME's report was not substantial evidence and could not support the Award. (See Lab. Code, § 5952(d); Lamb v. Workmen's Comp. Appeals Bd. (1974) 11 Cal.3d 274, 281 [39 Cal.Comp.Cases 310]; Garza v. Workmen's Comp. Appeals Bd. (1970) 3 Cal.3d 312, 317 [35 Cal.Comp.Cases 500]; LeVesque v. Workmen's Comp. Appeals Bd. (1970) 1 Cal.3d 627, 635 [35 Cal.Comp.Cases 16] [award must be based on substantial evidence]; see also McClune v. Workers' Comp. Appeals Bd. (1998) 62 Cal.App.4th 1117, 1121-1122 [63 Cal.Comp.Cases 261] [Appeals Board has discretion to develop the record where there is insufficient evidence on an issue].) Thus, he set aside the Award and ordered further development of the record.