The business of insurance

In Robles v. The Estate of Vicky Bleazard, dba Bleazard Co., 2016 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS 330, the WCAB held that a WCJ erred when it denied an applicant's petition to join deceased employer's estate and the Uninsured Employers Benefits Trust Fund (UEBTF) as parties to the case following the death of an illegally uninsured employer. 

Michael W. Sullivan

Injury

In Azoulay v. City of Orange, 2016 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS 338, the WCAB held that applicant's diverticulitis was compensable because it fell within the blood-borne infectious disease presumption of LC 3212.8. 

Statute of limitation

In Breckenridge Ins. Services LLC v. WCAB (Groth), 2016 Cal. Wrk. Comp. LEXIS 84 (writ denied), the WCAB held that an applicant's workers' compensation claim was not barred by the statute of limitations under LC 5405 when neither the applicant nor his wife was aware that applicant was covered by the defendant's workers' compensation policy. 

Medical treatment

In Nickerson v. Pot Belly Deli, 2016 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS 329, the WCAB upheld a WCJ's decision granting applicant's appeal of an independent medical review (IMR) determination upholding a defendant's utilization review denial of certain prescription medications on the ground that the IMR reviewer applied an incorrect treatment guideline. 

Temporary disability

In Hernandez v. WCAB (2016) B268700, the Second Appellate District Court of Appeal held that an employer (the California Highway Patrol) violated LC 4800.5 and LC 3751(a) by compelling an employee to use his annual leave to pay for his salary in lieu of temporary disability payments. 

Permanent disability

In Anaya v. Bay Area Carbide, 2016 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS 314, the WCAB held that permanent total disability may be shown by presenting evidence of permanent total disability "in accordance with the fact" as provided in LC 4662(b), or by rebutting an LC 4660 scheduled rating. 

Return to work

In Beltran v. Structural Steel Fabricators (2016) ADJ9721385 (panel decision), the WCAB held that where the parties establish there is a good faith dispute which, if resolved against applicant, would defeat his or her entitlement to all workers' compensation benefits, applicant may settle a claim by a compromise and release agreement that also settles the potential right to the supplemental job displacement benefit voucher. 

Discovery and settlement

In Corrado v. Aquafine Corp., 2016 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS 318, the WCAB held that neither LC 4062.5 nor LC 139.2 mandates the replacement of a QME for failing to follow the administrative time limits for completing a supplemental report. 

Litigation

In Rosenberg v. State of California, California Highway Patrol Disability and Retirement, 2016 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS 331, the WCAB acting on remand from the 4th Appellate District Court of Appeal issued an order vacating its prior decision (Rosenberg v. State of California, California Highway Patrol Disability and Retirement, 2016 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS 57) because it learned upon further review of the record that defendant did, in fact, object to consideration of the issue of temporary disability at the trial. 

Complete discussion of these topics can be found in Sullivan On Comp available to subscribers at http://www.workcompcentral.com/soc. 

Michael Sullivan is the founder of Michael Sullivan & Associates LLP, a workers' compensation defense firm with offices throughout California, and author of "Sullivan on Comp," a treatise on California workers' compensation law.