BUSINESS OF INSURANCE

In Yepes v. St. Supery Vineyard Winery, 2014 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS 735, the WCAB granted removal of a WCJ's order setting a matter for trial when the applicant was being prosecuted for workers' compensation fraud under IC 1871.4.

INJURY

In Thompson v. California Department of Corrections, High Desert State Prison, 2014 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS 698, the WCAB held that a correction officer's death by a self-inflicted gunshot on March 1, 2013, was not barred by LC 3600(a)(6), that it was caused by an assault occurring on Feb. 19, 2011, when the employee repeatedly was stabbed by an inmate and later was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.

In Wasson v. County of Plumas, 2014 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS 733, the WCAB held that LC 3208.3(h) barred an applicant from collecting compensation for her psychiatric injury but did not bar her from collecting benefits for her heart disease.

MEDICAL TREATMENT

In Cordova v. Garaventa Enterprises, 2015 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS 1, the WCAB determined that a defendant unreasonably delayed provision of medical treatment when the requested treatment initially was denied by utilization review (UR), the treatment was approved by a subsequent UR and the defendant failed to authorize it.

In Hernandez v. Newco Foods, Inc., 2014 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS 713, the WCAB affirmed a WCJ's decision that an applicant was allowed to continue treating outside the MPN with her chiropractic treating physician when the defendant could not prove it had a valid MPN.

TEMPORARY DISABILITY

In Romero v. Sunbelt USA, Inc., 2014 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS 728, the WCAB majority held that an applicant was not entitled to temporary disability indemnity during a period of temporary partial disability when the uncontested evidence established that she was terminated for cause.

PERMANENT DISABILITY

In Gannon v. Hallmark Marketing Co., 2014 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS 679, the WCAB determined that an applicant was 100% disabled based on a DEU rater's explanation that a limitation to working only from her home was analogous to a sheltered workshop.

In Dufresne v. Sutter Maternity & Surgery Center of Santa Cruz, 2014 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS 710, the WCAB rescinded an award of 100% permanent disability and found that the applicant's injuries caused 80 percent permanent disability after apportionment of 20% to nonindustrial causation.

DISCOVERY AND SETTLEMENT

In Deberry v. City and County of San Francisco, 2014 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS 708, the WCAB granted removal of a WCJ's order limiting each party to 50 questions of the applicant at a second deposition.

In Cervantez v. Staffmark Transportation, 2014 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS 707, the WCAB affirmed a WCJ's decision that a defendant could submit video evidence to a panel QME without first authenticating the video through an evidentiary hearing.

In Alderete v. Adventist Medical Center, 2014 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS 702, the WCAB granted removal and rescinded a WCJ's order for a replacement QME in neurology after the parties were unable to agree on a specialty.

In Linscott v. All Tech Machine Engineering, Inc., 2014 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS 719, the WCAB affirmed an order denying the applicant's motion to strike the QME panel in orthopedics assigned by the Medical Unit.

In Hidalgo v. Casa Del Mar, 2014 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS 714, the WCAB held that an applicant waived a defendant's violation of LC 4062.3(b) by not seeking a replacement QME until after reviewing a panel QME's report.

LITIGATION

In Salvestrin v. Corvel Corp., 2014 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS 730, the WCAB granted a defendant's petition for removal and rescinded a WCJ's order consolidating three cases filed by an applicant against three different employers.

In Ogden Entertainment Services v. WCAB (Von Ritzhoff) (2014) 80 CCC 1, the Court of Appeal annulled the award of permanent total disability because the applicant refused to submit to cross-examination at the hearings on his claim.

In Bigsby v. Valley Flowers, Inc., 2014 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS 706, the WCAB affirmed an arbitrator's decision that an applicant's cumulative trauma injury incurred while selling flowers at various farmers markets was covered by the employer's workers' compensation insurance policy.

Complete discussion of these topics can be found online in Sullivan On Comp, available to subscribers.

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