FERNANDO GUTIERREZ vs. SOCAL FRAMING Aka BMHC; ACE AMERICAN INSURANCE, Administered By ESIS, INC.

This case is about a worker, Fernando Gutierrez, who sustained an industrial injury to his left eye while employed as a carpenter on September 26, 2007. He requested extended temporary disability benefits under Labor Code section 4656(c)(3) and/or (F), alleging either amputation or high velocity eye impact. The Workers' Compensation Appeals Board granted reconsideration to further study the factual and legal issues and ultimately determined that the removal of applicant's left eye was not an amputation in light of the Cruz decision, but that further development of the record was required to determine whether the extent of damage to applicant's left eye on September 26, 2007 indicated it was a "high-velocity eye injury." The Board ordered the matter to be returned

SOCAL FRAMING aka BMHC; ACE AMERICAN INSURANCE, administered by ESIS, INC. FERNANDO GUTIERREZ WORKERS’ COMPENSATION APPEALS BOARDSTATE OF CALIFORNIAFERNANDO GUTIERREZ, Applicant,vs.SOCAL FRAMING aka BMHC; ACE AMERICAN INSURANCE, administered by ESIS, INC., Defendants.Case No. ADJ473373 (ANA 0406381)OPINION AND DECISION AFTER RECONSIDERATION, AND ORDER DISMISSINGPETITION FOR REMOVAL            On September 12, 2011, the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board (Appeals Board) granted reconsideration to further study the factual and legal issues. This is our Decision After Reconsideration.            In the Findings, Award and Order and Decision of June 22, 2011, the workers’ compensation judge (WCJ) found, in relevant part, that applicant, while employed as a “carpenter [in] construction” on September 26, 2007, sustained industrial injury to his left eye, and that applicant’s temporary disability is limited to 104 weeks because his injury does not qualify for an exception under Labor Code section 4656(c)(3).1            Applicant filed a Petition for Reconsideration and/or Removal, contending that the surgical removal of his left eye qualifies for the amputation exception to the 104-week cap on temporary disability benefits under Labor Code section 4656, that the WCJ “misinterpreted and/or misapplied” the definition of “amputation” under the Appeals Board’s en banc decision in Cruz v. Mercedes-Benz of San Francisco (2007) 72 Cal.Comp.Cases 1281 (“Cruz”), that the “Legislative trend indicates a Legislative intent to exclude substantial eye injuries from the 104-week cap,” and that the rule of liberal construction should be applied to extend additional TD benefits herein. _______________________________________________1 Section 4656(c)(3) provides, in relevant part, that for an employee who suffers an “amputation (subparagraph (C)) or “high-velocity eye injury” (subparagraph (F)), aggregate disability payments for a single injury occurring on or after April 19, 2004, causin

To continue reading ... start a FREE Trial for 10 days

Discover the cases you didn’t know you were missing!

Copyright © 2023 - CompFox Inc.