December 2009

In this case, Robert Thein, an employee of Pacific Gas & Electric Company, sought reconsideration of a workers’ compensation administrative law judge’s Joint Findings and Award of October 13, 2009, wherein it was found that while employed as a communication tech, Thein did not sustain industrial injury to his psyche on December 21, 1988, during a cumulative period ending on January 24, 1995, or on January 24, 1995. The WCJ also found that the defendant had overpaid temporary disability in the amount of $26,608.03 ($13,304.01 in SFO 384777 and $13,304.02 in SFO 384779) and was entitled to a credit towards its permanent disability indemnity liability

In this case, Miles Wallace, an employee of Bellagio & Back Door Board Shop, sought reconsideration of a workers’ compensation administrative law judge’s (WCJ) October 19, 2009 Findings and Award. The WCJ found that Wallace had incurred an industrial injury to his pelvis and bilateral hips while employed by the defendant, causing 20% permanent disability without apportionment, and a need for future medical treatment. Wallace contended that his permanent disability was erroneously calculated by considering his work restrictions instead of factors of disability and that an incorrect occupational variant was used by the rater from the Disability Evaluation Unit (DEU). The WCJ granted reconsideration and rescinded the October 19, 2009 decision, returning the case to the trial level

(MON 0308877)This case is about George Villarreal’s workers’ compensation claim against Amerisource Bergen Drug Company. The Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board denied the petition for reconsideration/removal and dismissed the petition for removal filed by Unitech Diagnostics, the lien claimant. The WCJ had previously found that Villarreal sustained an industrial injury to his knee, but not to his shoulder or wrist, and that Unitech Diagnostics was not entitled to reimbursement for the MRI of the shoulder. The WCJ also issued a Notice of Intention that if Unitech Diagnostics continued to impede the speedy resolution of its liens, then costs and sanctions would be imposed. The WCAB denied reconsideration and dismissed the

In this case, Josephine Stoffel, an applicant, sought reconsideration of the Findings of Fact issued by a workers’ compensation administrative law judge (WCJ) on October 1, 2009, in which the WCJ found that the defendant’s request for a new panel QME was denied and that the defendant was allowed to select its own QME. The WCJ’s decision was unclear and the evidence he relied on was not identified, so the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board granted the Petition for Reconsideration and rescinded the WCJ’s decision, returning the matter to the hearing level for further proceedings and a decision by the WCJ consistent with the decision.