In this issue...
Strong v City & County of
San Francisco . . . . . 1
Vol. XI No.11
November 2005
COMPENSATION
NEWS
MONTHLY REPORT
WCAB issues new apportionment
decision under section 4664
This is a en banc
decision
T
his is an important
decision that will surely
be vigorously fought at
the appellate level.
The applicant sustained an
injury to his left knee in 1995.
The applicant stipulated to a 34
per cent permanent disability
based on a restriction of no heavy
lifting.
The applicant had a second
injury in 1999 to the left
shoulder, left knee, left ankle and
right wrist. There was a
stipulation to 42 percent
permanent disability based on
limitation to light work. There
was apportionment to the prior
restriction of no heavy lifting.
The current case involves a
back injury and a limitation to
semi-sedentary work. The
Workers' Compensation Judge
(WCJ) subtracted the rating for
the light work and gave the
applicant a 10 percent disability
after apportionment. The
applicant petitioned for
reconsideration.
The Workers' Compensation
Appeals Board (WCAB)
determined that Labor Code
section 4664 still requires the
apportionment of overlapping
disabilities. This includes the
situation where you have a new
area of the body. In this case the
new area was the back, which
was not included in either of the
prior awards. Apportionment was
still appropriate.
The defendant has the burden
of proving the existence of a
prior award. The defendant must
offer into evidence a copy of the
prior award or ask the WCJ to
take judicial notice of the prior
award. If not available, it can also
be shown by secondary evidence.
This is a conclusive
presumption and applicant can
not contend they rehabilitated
themself. Once shown the prior
award will be subtracted from the
current award. Overlap will be
determined using the principles
that were in existence prior to the
new legislation.
=================
Editor: Harvey Brown
Firm: Samuelsen, Gonzalez,
Valenzuela and Brown
Address: 18500 Von
Karman #470, Irvine
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