What the panel ordered
The Appeals Board rescinded the Findings and Orders issued July 15, 2002, and returned the matter to the WCJ for analysis of the evidence in accordance with the principles set forth in the decision and for a new decision thereafter.
The Workers' Compensation Appeals Board granted reconsideration of the Findings and Orders issued by a workers' compensation administrative law judge (WCJ) on July 15, 2002, which found that applicant did not sustain cumulative industrial injury in the form of cancer. The case was reassigned for an en banc decision after reconsideration due to important legal issues and to secure uniformity of decision under Labor Code section 3212.1.
What was disputed, and how it came out
Each issue the panel decided, with the reasoning it gave. An outcome is what this panel did on this record — not a rule, and not a prediction.
The Appeals Board held that under Labor Code section 3212.1, when an applicant establishes exposure to a known carcinogen and manifestation of cancer, the cancer is presumed industrial injury, shifting the burden to the defendant to rebut the presumption by proving no reasonable link exists. The WCJ's prior decision was rescinded for failure to apply this systematic analysis properly.
From the decision · page 24 We hold that under section 3212.1, as amended in 1999, when