What the panel ordered
April 28, 2022 Findings and Order affirmed except amended to defer issue of SIBTF eligibility and remand for further record development
Petition for Reconsideration granted and matter returned to trial level for further development of record on SIBTF eligibility
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 finding that applicant's pre-existing injuries were not labor disabling was challenged; the Appeals Board granted reconsideration and remanded for further development to determine if the preexisting conditions are independently capable of supporting a permanent partial disability award, thus labor disabling for SIBTF eligibility.
From the decision · page 1applicant seeks reconsideration of the April 28, 2022 Findings and Order, wherein the workers' compensation administrative law judge (WCJ) found that applicant has not met his burden of proof for eligibility for Subsequent Injuries Benefits Trust Fund (SIBTF).
The facts that decided it
What the panel treated as outcome-determinative, and which side it favoured.
Applicant's pre-existing injuries were found by the WCJ not to be labor disabling
Favours Applicant prevailed
This finding was challenged by applicant and led to reconsideration and remand for further record development to determine labor disabling status for SIBTF eligibility
From the decision · page 1Applicant contends that the WCJ erred in finding that applicant's pre-existing injuries were not labor disabling.
The rules the panel named
Authorities as the decision cited them, with how this panel applied each one.
Labor Code section 4751
Labor Code section 4751
Defines eligibility criteria for SIBTF benefits based on combined permanent disability and labor disabling preexisting conditions.
Clarifies that the preexisting disability must be labor disabling to qualify for SIBTF benefits.
From the decision · page 3The Supreme Court in Ferguson held that the "previous disability or impairment" contemplated by section 4751 "`must be actually `labor disabling,' and that such disablement, rather than `employer knowledge,' is the pertinent factor to be considered in determining whether the employee is entitled to subsequent injuries payments under the terms of section 4751." (Ferguson, supra, p. 477; Escobedo v. Marshall, 70 Cal.Comp.Cases 604, 619 (Appeals Board en banc).) The court further noted that "`the prior injury under most statutes should be one which, if industrial, would be independently capable of supporting an award. It need not, of course, be reflected in actual disability in the form of loss of earnings [as this court has already held in Smith v. Industrial Acc. Com. (1955) 44 Cal.2d 364, 367 [2, 3] [288 P.2d 64]], but if it is not, it should at least be of a kind which could ground an award of permanent partial disability....'" (Ferguson, at p. 477, quoting Larson's Workmen's Compensation Law (1952) § 59.33 (vol. 2, p. 63).)
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About this page
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