Authorities as the decision cited them, with how this panel applied each one.
Labor Code section 5909
Petition for reconsideration must be acted upon within 60 days of case transmission to Appeals Board (Lab. Code, 5909)
The Appeals Board acted timely on the petition within 60 days of transmission on October 24, 2025.
From the decision · page 2Preliminarily, we note that former Labor Code section 5909 provided that a petition for
reconsideration was deemed denied unless the Appeals Board acted on the petition within 60 days
from the date of filing. (Lab. Code, § 5909.) Effective July 2, 2024, Labor Code section 5909 was
amended to state in relevant part that:
Labor Code section 5412
Date of injury in cumulative injury cases is when employee first suffered disability and knew or should have known it was work-related (Lab. Code, 5412)
The WCJ failed to establish the date of injury as required by Labor Code section 5412.
From the decision · page 4Additionally, in order to ascribe liability to the correct carriers and/or employers, the
liability period of the cumulative injury must be established pursuant to Labor Code section
5500.5. Labor Code section 5500.5(a) states, "liability for occupational disease or cumulative
injury claims... shall be limited to those employers who employed the employee during a period
of [one year] immediately preceding either the date of injury, as determined pursuant to Section
5412, or the last date on which the employee was employed in an occupation exposing him or her
to the hazards of the occupational disease or cumulative injury, whichever occurs first." Thus, in
order to evaluate the section 5500.5 liability period, a history must be taken to detail any periods
of industrial exposure. Additionally, since the section 5500.5 period is based on the earlier of the
cessation of industrial exposure and the Labor Code section 5412 date of injury, the section 5412
date of injury must be established.
Labor Code section 5500.5
Liability period for cumulative injury claims limited to employers during one year preceding date of injury or last exposure (Lab. Code, 5500.5)
The WCJ did not establish the liability period under Labor Code section 5500.5 due to lack of findings on exposure and date of injury.
From the decision · page 4Additionally, in order to ascribe liability to the correct carriers and/or employers, the
liability period of the cumulative injury must be established pursuant to Labor Code section
5500.5. Labor Code section 5500.5(a) states, "liability for occupational disease or cumulative
injury claims... shall be limited to those employers who employed the employee during a period
of [one year] immediately preceding either the date of injury, as determined pursuant to Section
5412, or the last date on which the employee was employed in an occupation exposing him or her
to the hazards of the occupational disease or cumulative injury, whichever occurs first." Thus, in
order to evaluate the section 5500.5 liability period, a history must be taken to detail any periods
of industrial exposure. Additionally, since the section 5500.5 period is based on the earlier of the
cessation of industrial exposure and the Labor Code section 5412 date of injury, the section 5412
date of injury must be established.