What the panel ordered
WCJ's decision affirmed: 7% permanent disability for left foot injury without apportionment, total permanent disability for lower extremities is 29%.
Petition for reconsideration granted to study apportionment under Labor Code section 4664 as enacted by SB 899; case assigned en banc for uniformity of decision.
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 defendant proved prior permanent disability award of 22% for bilateral knee injury; the prior disability is conclusively presumed to exist; applicant disproved overlap between prior knee disability and current left foot disability; thus, no apportionment was required and the 7% left foot disability was awarded in addition to the prior 22%.
From the decision · page 112 We granted reconsideration to further study the issue of apportionment under Labor Code
The facts that decided it
What the panel treated as outcome-determinative, and which side it favoured.