A.G. WEST & STATE COMPENSATION INSURANCE FUND, GONZALO FLORES-HERNANDEZ (dec.) MARIA ANTONIA HERNANDEZ-LOPEZ, ET AL., WORKERS’ COMPENSATION APPEALS BOARDSTATE OF CALIFORNIAGONZALO FLORES-HERNANDEZ (dec.)MARIA ANTONIA HERNANDEZ-LOPEZ, ET AL., Applicant,vs.A.G. WEST & STATE COMPENSATION INSURANCE FUND, Defendant(s).Case No. ADJ4560437 (STK 0198536)OPINION AND ORDER DENYING PETITION FORRECONSIDERATION Applicants, family members of the deceased, Gonzalo Flores-Hemandez, seek reconsideration of the August 17, 2009 Findings and Order, wherein the workers’ compensation administrative law judge (WCJ) found that the deceased, while employed as a farm laborer on September 6, 2004, sustained industrial injury causing his death. The WCJ found that his average weekly wages at the time of his death were $331.22. She ordered defendant to pay a death benefit, pursuant to Labor Code section 4702(a)(4)(A), to the deceased’s partial dependents, in an amount to be adjusted by the parties. Applicants contend the WCJ erred in failing to find total dependency, arguing that the dependents were not working at the time of the injury and that they were substantially dependent on the deceased. Applicants further contend that the WCJ erred in failing to award a maximum augmented death benefit based on the need of the minor dependents, and in dismissing the opinion of the expert witness on the issue of the deceased’s lifetime earning capacity. We have considered the Petition for Reconsideration, and we have reviewed the record in this matter. The WCJ prepared a Report and Recommendation on Petition for Reconsideration (Report), recommending that the petition be denied. , For the reasons expressed by the WCJ in his Report, which we adopt and incorporate, and for the reasons discussed below, we will deny the petition for reconsideration. The evidence on dependency in this case was conflicting. It is the task of the trier of fact to resolve
