CITY OF OAKLAND, Permissibly Self-Insured SAMUEL TURCO WORKERS’ COMPENSATION APPEALS BOARDSTATE OF CALIFORNIASAMUEL TURCO, Applicant,vs.CITY OF OAKLAND, Permissibly Self-Insured, Defendants.Case No. ADJ4569483 (STK 0214134)OPINION AND ORDER GRANTING RECONSIDERATION ANDDECISION AFTER RECONSIDERATION Defendant, City of Oakland, permissibly self-insured, seeks reconsideration of the Findings of Fact and Orders, issued June 27, 2012, in which a workers’ compensation administrative law judge (WCJ) found applicant, Samuel Turco, sustained an industrial cumulative trauma injury to his heart and cardiovascular system over the period of his employment as a police officer through March 27, 1998. The WCJ found applicant entitled to the presumption of industrial causation in Labor Code section 3212.5. The WCJ also found applicant’s claim was not barred by the statute of limitations, finding applicant did not have knowledge of compensable disability or industrial causation more than one year prior to filing his Application for Adjudication of Claim against the City of Oakland. The WCJ deferred issues of permanent disability, apportionment and need for further medical treatment pending further development of the record. Defendant contests the WCJ’s finding that applicant’s claim is not barred by the statute of limitations, asserting that the evidence establishes that applicant had, or reasonably should have had, knowledge that the disability from his 2002 heart attack was related to his employment, as of February 10, 2007, when he sought and acted upon legal advice on his right to workers’ compensation benefits from the City of Turlock, which was more than one year before he filed his claim against the City of Oakland. Defendant further raises an issue with the WCJ’s failure to address the City of Oakland’s request for consolidation of applicant’s cumulative trauma claim with that brought against the City of Turlock, so that Oakland could seek reimbursement
