BUSINESS OF INSURANCE

In Chavarria v. Vasquez, dba JRV Construction, 2015 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS 35, the WCAB held that an insurer remained liable for workers' compensation benefits to an injured worker even though it had a pending civil action for rescission of a worker's compensation policy against the employer for fraudulent misrepresentations.

INJURY

In Lott v. University of California Los Angeles, 2015 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS 47, the WCAB held that an applicant sustained a compensable injury walking from her office to a snack bar on an unpaid lunch break.

STATUTE OF LIMITATION

In Hughes Aircraft Co. v. WCAB (Billik), 2015 Cal. Wrk. Comp. LEXIS 29 (writ denied), the WCAB denied a defendant's petition to reopen filed Nov. 30, 2005, to rescind an award issued in 1981.

MEDICAL TREATMENT

In Zwicky v. NH Research, Inc., 2015 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS 33, the WCAB held that a UR decision was untimely when it was not communicated in writing to the applicant's attorney as required by Dubon v. World Restoration, Inc. (2014) 79 CCC 1298 (appeals board en banc) and Bodam v. San Bernardino County (2014) 79 CCC 1519 (significant panel decision).

In Hunter v. Estes Express Lines, 2015 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS 42, the WCAB held that a UR decision was untimely when it issued six working days after receipt of the request for authorization.

TEMPORARY DISABILITY

In Moore v. WCAB, 2015 Cal. Wrk. Comp. LEXIS 25 (writ denied), the WCAB held that an applicant was not entitled to temporary disability benefits following her voluntary retirement.

PERMANENT DISABILITY

In Walter v. International Capital Group, 2015 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS 32, the WCAB remanded a case for the parties to select a mutually agreed on vocational expert, or if the parties were unable to reach an agreement, for the WCJ to appoint an independent vocational expert when it found the opinions of vocational experts from both parties to be insubstantial.

In Rice v. City of Jackson, 2015 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS 57, the WCAB rescinded an award when the WCJ found the applicant sustained 20 percent permanent disability after 49 percent apportionment to his "personal history including genetic issues," as found by the QME.

In Maverick v. Marriott International, 2015 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS 50, the WCAB held that a psychiatric AME's apportionment was not substantial evidence when he merely followed the apportionment of the orthopedic AME without further explanation.

In McGowan v. City of Los Angeles, 2015 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS 24, the WCAB awarded an applicant 34 percent permanent disability after applying LC 4664(c)(1), which provides that accumulation of all permanent disability awards to any one region of the body shall not exceed 100 percent over an employee's lifetime.

PENALTIES AND SANCTIONS

In Murphy v. PetSmart, Inc., 2015 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS 53, the WCAB majority rescinded a WCJ's penalty under LC 5814 for unreasonable delay in provision of dental treatment because the defendant had genuine doubt regarding its duty to make advance payment for the services.

DISCOVERY AND SETTLEMENT

In Johnson v. California Department of Social Services (2015) ADJ4617702; ADJ1170523 (panel decision), the WCAB granted removal and found that a WCJ abused his discretion when he failed to conduct a hearing on the issues outlined in the parties' pretrial conference statements.

In Rivera v. Jaco Environmental, Inc., 2015 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS 58, the WCAB affirmed a WCJ's finding that a panel QME in pain management requested by the applicant was proper even though the defendant requested a QME panel in orthopedics on the same day.

In Villasenor v. Community Action Partnership of San Bernardino County, 2015 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS 31, the WCAB upheld a WCJ's decision that a QME's medical reports were inadmissible when he began treating the applicant.

LITIGATION

In Johnson v. California Department of Social Services (2015) ADJ4617702; ADJ1170523 (panel decision), the WCAB granted a defendant's petition for disqualification pursuant to LC 5311 and CCR 10452 when it established that the WCJ had formed or expressed an unqualified opinion or belief as to the merits of the action.

In Garcia v. Los Angeles Unified School District, 2015 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS 39, the WCAB concluded that an applicant was entitled to home health care services, pursuant to an agreement reached outside of court.

AWARDS AND APPEALS

In Hunter v. Estes Express Lines, 2015 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS 42, the WCAB held that a defendant's petition for reconsideration was timely when it was filed within 25 days of an amended award that was a substantive or material change to the original award.

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

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