What the panel ordered
Reconsideration granted; April 12, 2023 WCJ decision affirmed except amended to find date of injury under Labor Code section 5412 as September 1, 2021.
Defendant sought reconsideration of the April 12, 2023 Findings of Fact, Orders, and Opinion on Decision (F&O) by the WCJ, which found applicant sustained industrial injury to bilateral hips during employment. The WCJ's decision was affirmed with amendment to the date of injury.
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's credibility determination was given great weight. The date of injury under Labor Code section 5412 was found to be September 1, 2021, the date of the QME's medical advice. The statute of limitations was tolled by employer-provided medical benefits under section 5405(c). Defendant failed to prove compensation was barred by the statute of limitations.
From the decision · page 9In summary, we accord to the WCJ's credibility determination the great weight to which it is entitled. We further find that applicant's date of injury was September 1, 2021, the date applicant first received medical advice as to the existence and industrial etiology of a cumulative injury. Because the application for adjudication was filed within one year of the date of injury, compensation is not barred under section 5405(a). Finally, and irrespective of our determination with regard to section 5405(a), the employer's provision of healthcare used by applicant to cure or relieve the effects of the industrial injury tolled the running of the statute of limitations under section 5405(c). Accordingly, we affirm the F&O, except that we amend it to include the date of injury, as contemplated by section 5412 and placed in issue by the parties.