JURISDICTION AND SUBROGATION

In Stinnett v. Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Mets, 2015 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS 644, the WCAB held that, pursuant to New York Knickerbockers v. WCAB (Macklin) (2015) 80 CCC 1141, California had a significant and legitimate interest over a baseball player's cumulative trauma claim when he was regularly employed by a California-based team, the Los Angeles Dodgers, for a portion of the cumulative trauma that caused his injury.

INJURY

In Cooper v. Johns Manville, 2015 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS 585, the WCAB concluded that a compromise and release (C&R) in 2008, which settled an employee's claim for cumulative injury to his lungs and respiratory system as a result of asbestosis, did not resolve his widow's claimed for death benefits due to his death in 2012 from malignant peritoneal mesothelioma, a cancer in the lining of his abdominal cavity, caused by asbestos exposure.

STATUTES OF LIMITATIONS

In Neu v. Los Angeles Dodgers, Oakland Athletics, 2015 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS 603, the WCAB held that an applicant's cumulative trauma injury was not barred by the statute of limitations under LC 5405 because the defendant did not meet its burden of showing that the applicant had actual knowledge of his workers' compensation rights more than one year before filing his claim.

In Nelson v. Green Team of San Jose/Waste Connections, Inc., 2015 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS 602, the WCAB affirmed an arbitrator's decision that a petition for contribution was timely and that a co-defendant could receive contribution for all benefits paid when: (1) the applicant initially filed a claim for a specific injury that was resolved by way of stipulated award May 3, 2006; (2) the applicant filed a petition to reopen, and during the discovery on the petition to reopen, it became apparent that the injury was most likely a cumulative trauma injury, rather than a specific injury; (3) on May 26, 2010, a stipulations and order issued recharacterizing the injury as a cumulative trauma injury; (4) the claimed settled by way of stipulated award Dec. 4, 2013; and (5) a petition for contribution was filed March 24, 2014.

MEDICAL TREATMENT

In Lechner v. Marin General Hospital, 2015 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS 596, the WCAB rescinded a WCJ's award of $13,000 for the applicant's purchase of a walk-in bathtub when the applicant's primary treating physician had not requested authorization for it in the form and manner required to trigger the defendant's obligation to conduct utilization review.

In Smith v. Scholle Packaging, 2015 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS 616, the WCAB held that a defendant's utilization review was timely when made six working days after receipt of an RFA form.

In Keller v. Northern California Medical Associates, 2015 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS 594, the WCAB rescinded a WCJ's decision that a defendant's utilization review determination was untimely because the defendant failed to serve the applicant and her attorney with medical records in violation of CCR 10608 and CCR 10615.

PERMANENT DISABILITY

In Mesanovic v. Specialty Termite, 2015 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS 638,  the WCAB held that an applicant failed to rebut the permanent disability rating schedule under Ogilvie v. WCAB (2011) 76 CCC 624 and Contra Costa County v. WCAB (Dahl) (2015) 80 CCC 1119.

DEATH BENEFITS

In Eierman, Kurz v. Food Etc., 2015 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS 588, the WCAB held that an applicant who lived with a deceased employee for 33 years as husband and wife, even though they were not legally married, was entitled to a death benefit of $228,800.

PENALTIES AND SANCTIONS

In Eastwood v. Cooper Construction, 2015 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS 587, the WCAB held that a widow did not prove that the employer engaged in serious and willful misconduct per LC 4553 when an employee sustained industrial death as a result of heat exposure while working on a day when temperatures were in excess of 100 degrees.

DISCOVERY AND SETTLEMENT

In Kenzy v. Penske Truck Leasing, 2015 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS 635, the WCAB granted removal of a WCJ's decision to deny the defendant the use of sub rosa evidence served on the date of the MSC.

In Lopez v. Penterman Farming Co., 2015 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS 598, the WCAB affirmed a WCJ's order limiting a defendant's subpoena of records to the applicant's musculoskeletal system.

In Cornejo v. Younique CafÈ, Inc., 2015 Cal. Wrk. Comp. LEXIS 160, the WCAB held en banc, that the licensing and bonding requirements of Chapter 20 of Division 8 of the Business and Professions Code (BPC) do not apply to a lien claimant seeking to recover copy service fees that are medical-legal expenses under LC 4620(a) when, per BPC 22451(b), the lien claimant is an agent and/or independent contractor of a member of the state Bar at the time the documents are photocopied.

LITIGATION

In Chamberlain v. Humphrey & Giacopuzzi Hospital, 2015 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS 657, the WCAB granted removal of a WCJ's order taking a matter off calendar due to the applicant's absence at trial when she claimed that she could not appear due to her physical and financial inability to travel to California from her residence in Oregon.

In In re: Javier Jimenez, 2015 Cal. Wrk. Comp. LEXIS 159, the WCAB en banc gave notice of its intention to suspend a hearing representative from appearing before the board or any WCJs for 180 days, per LC 4907, when he had been sanctioned numerous times over the last three years for engaging in bad-faith actions or tactics that were frivolous or solely intended to cause unnecessary delay while representing lien claimants.

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.