PAYLESS SHOES, Permissibly Self-Insured LATRICE JONES WORKERS’ COMPENSATION APPEALS BOARDSTATE OF CALIFORNIALATRICE JONES, Applicant,vs.PAYLESS SHOES, Permissibly Self-Insured, Defendant.Case No. ADJ1 403905 (LBO 0392263)OPINION AND ORDER DENYING PETITION FOR RECONSIDERATION Defendant seeks reconsideration of a workers’ compensation administrative law judge’s (WCJ) Findings and Order of July 10, 2012, wherein it was found that applicant “sustained injury to [sic] arising out of and occurring in the course of employment” while employed as a retail manager on November 2, 2007. All other issues were deferred, including which body parts were injured. Defendant contends that the WCJ erred in finding industrial injury, arguing that the alleged injurious assault never took place. Defendant also argues that the WCJ erred in not allowing certain witnesses to testify at trial. We have received an answer, and the WCJ has filed a Report and Recommendation on Petition for Reconsideration (Report). We will deny reconsideration for the reasons stated by the WCJ in his Report, which we hereby adopt and incorporate. Although the WCJ acknowledged “substantial doubt about whether applicant sustained the level of injury claimed,” the WCJ found applicant’s testimony that she was assaulted to be credible. Credibility determinations are best made at the trial level “because of [a WCJ’s] ‘opportunity to observe the demeanor of the witnesses and weigh their statements in connection with their manner on the stand …. ‘ [Citation.]” (Garza v. Workmen’s Comp. Appeals Bd. (1970) 3 Cal.3d 312, 319 [35 Cal.Comp.Cases 500].) Defendant also argues that the WCJ erred in not allowing certain witnesses to testify. However, the Minutes of Hearing and Summary of Evidence does not contain any record of testimony not allowed , by the WCJ or of any offers of proof by defendant. As a leading practice guide notes, “during reconsideration or review, the Appeals
