Trojan Battery Company; United States Fire Insurance C/O Crum & Forster Cruz Villegas (Deceased)/Amalia Villegas (Widow) WORKERS’ COMPENSATION APPEALS BOARDSTATE OF CALIFORNIACRUZ VILLEGAS (Deceased) AMALIA VILLEGAS (Widow), Applicant,vs.TROJAN BATTERY COMPANY; UNITED STATES FIRE INSURANCE C/O CRUM & FORSTER, Defendants.Case No. ADJ6601989OPINION AND ORDER GRANTING RECONSIDERATION AND DECISION AFTER RECONSIDERATION Defendant, United States Fire Insurance Company, on behalf of its insured, Trojan Battery Company, seeks reconsideration of, or alternatively removal from, the Findings and Order, dated August 31, 2010, but alleged not to have been served until December 7, 2010, in which a workers’ compensation administrative law judge (WCJ) held the claim for death benefits of Amalia Villegas, the widow of Cruz Villegas, was entitled to the presumption of compensability under Labor Code section 5402, since defendant did not establish that it timely denied the claim for death benefits, though it had timely denied the decedent’s inter vivos claim. Defendant contends first that it was not served with the Findings and Order by the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board, and that its petition was timely filed from the date of its actual receipt on December 7, 2010. Second, defendant contests the WCJ’s determination that Labor Code section 5402 requires a separate decision to deny liability for the claim for death benefits, contending that its timely denial of the inter vivos claim covers the death claim arising from the same injury. Applicant has filed an answer to defendant’s petition. Following our review of the record, and for the reasons set forth below, we find defendant’s petition timely filed and grant reconsideration to reverse the Findings and Order. , I. A claim form and an Application for Adjudication of Claim were served by mail on defendant on October 29, 2008, alleging Mr. Cruz Villegas sustained a cumulative trauma
Cruz Villegas (deceased)/amalia Villegas (widow) vs. Trojan Battery Company; United States Fire Insurance C/o Crum & Forster
In this case, the Trojan Battery Company and United States Fire Insurance Company sought reconsideration of a decision by a workers' compensation administrative law judge that the claim for death benefits of Amalia Villegas, the widow of Cruz Villegas, was entitled to the presumption of compensability under Labor Code section 5402. The court found that the defendant's petition was timely filed and granted reconsideration to reverse the Findings and Order. The court found that the defendant had timely denied the claim for death benefits, as the denial was made within 90 days of the date of the initial claim form, and that the claim for death benefits arose out of the same injury claimed in the inter vivos application. The court reversed the WCJ's finding that
- Filed On:
- Court: California, San Francisco
- Case No. ADJ6601989
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