What the panel ordered
Petitions for Reconsideration granted; final Decision After Reconsideration deferred.
Petitions for Reconsideration granted; final Decision After Reconsideration deferred pending further review.
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 deferred final decision on apportionment to allow further review and consideration of the entire record.
From the decision · page 8Here, and because the WCJ admits error, we will grant reconsideration. However, and to achieve uniformity of decisions, we require additional time to review the specific arguments raised,
From the decision · page 5Aggregate disability payments for a single injury occurring on or after January 1, 2008, causing temporary disability shall not extend for more than 104 compensable weeks within a period of five years from the date of injury. (Cal Lab Code § 4656(c)(2).) The undersigned WCJ erred in finding the last date temporary disability indemnity shall be paid was January 27, 2019. The date of specific injury is September 20, 2013. Five years from the date of injury is September 20, 2018. Pursuant to Labor Code § 4656, the last day of temporary disability indemnity can be paid is September 20, 2018 and permanent disability indemnity should have started on September 21, 2018. The recon unit should modify the award or return the matter to the trial level to modify the award in the specific injury as follows:
The WCJ admitted error in the temporary disability period and recommended correction, which the Appeals Board granted.
From the decision · page 5There is no dispute regarding the end date of the temporary disability period. In the agreed medical examiner Jon Greenfield, M.D.'s report dated August 15, 2022, in the discussion section it states "Dr. Chon, in his note of 7/21/2016, indicated that the applicant was totally temporarily disabled." The undersigned WCJ incorrectly believed that was the first time Dr. Chon placed Applicant on temporary disability. However, in the record review section of the report it states "on 2/18/2016, the applicant was placed on temporary disability as of 2/18/2016." Applicant's petition for reconsideration it is correct and should be granted. The undersigned WCJ's award should be modified by the recon unit or returned to the trial court, to correct: the period of temporary disability; period where Labor Code § 4850 benefits should be paid; and the period and rate at which temporary disability should be paid. (Report, p. 2.)
The facts that decided it
What the panel treated as outcome-determinative, and which side it favoured.
The WCJ admitted error in the temporary disability period and recommended correction based on medical evidence from AME Jon Greenfield and PTP Dr. Chon.
Favours Applicant prevailed
This admission led to the Appeals Board granting reconsideration and correcting the temporary disability period.
From the decision · page 5There is no dispute regarding the end date of the temporary disability period. In the agreed medical examiner Jon Greenfield, M.D.'s report dated August 15, 2022, in the discussion section it states "Dr. Chon, in his note of 7/21/2016, indicated that the applicant was totally temporarily disabled." The undersigned WCJ incorrectly believed that was the first time Dr. Chon placed Applicant on temporary disability. However, in the record review section of the report it states "on 2/18/2016, the applicant was placed on temporary disability as of 2/18/2016." Applicant's petition for reconsideration it is correct and should be granted. The undersigned WCJ's award should be modified by the recon unit or returned to the trial court, to correct: the period of temporary disability; period where Labor Code § 4850 benefits should be paid; and the period and rate at which temporary disability should be paid. (Report, p. 2.)
Favours Applicant prevailed
This correction was granted by the Appeals Board, affecting the permanent disability award.
From the decision · page 5Aggregate disability payments for a single injury occurring on or after January 1, 2008, causing temporary disability shall not extend for more than 104 compensable weeks within a period of five years from the date of injury. (Cal Lab Code § 4656(c)(2).) The undersigned WCJ erred in finding the last date temporary disability indemnity shall be paid was January 27, 2019. The date of specific injury is September 20, 2013. Five years from the date of injury is September 20, 2018. Pursuant to Labor Code § 4656, the last day of temporary disability indemnity can be paid is September 20, 2018 and permanent disability indemnity should have started on September 21, 2018. The recon unit should modify the award or return the matter to the trial level to modify the award in the specific injury as follows:
The Appeals Board deferred final decision on apportionment to allow further review and consideration of the entire record.
Favours neutral
This deferral affects the final resolution of apportionment issues under Labor Code section 4663.
From the decision · page 8Here, and because the WCJ admits error, we will grant reconsideration. However, and to achieve uniformity of decisions, we require additional time to review the specific arguments raised,
What the panel did with the medical opinions
The role the physician served, and the weight the opinion carried. Physicians are named here as the decision names them; we do not score them.
Diagnosed degenerative arthritis and injuries to right shoulder, elbow, wrist, and lumbar spine; assigned whole-person impairment percentages; apportioned lumbar spine impairment among specific injury, continuous trauma, and degenerative arthritis.
Provided detailed apportionment opinion with percentages for lumbar spine impairment.
From the decision · page 3Applicant was evaluated by AME Jon Greenfield, M.D., who authored seven reports in evidence and was deposed. (Joint Exhibits Z1 through Z8.) Dr. Greenfield diagnosed applicant with the following:
The rules the panel named
Authorities as the decision cited them, with how this panel applied each one.
Labor Code section 5412
Date of injury under Labor Code section 5412 is the date the employee first suffered disability and knew or should have known it was caused by employment.
Applied to determine the correct date of injury for cumulative trauma.
Escobedo v. Marshalls (2005) 70 Cal.Comp.Cases 604
Apportionment of permanent disability requires substantial evidence and must be framed in terms of reasonable medical probability.
Applied to evaluate apportionment evidence and medical opinions.
From the decision · page 7Section 4663 requires that any report addressing permanent disability must also address apportionment of disability. Defendant carries the burden of proof on apportionment. (§ 5705.) Apportionment of permanent disability must address causation of disability and must constitute substantial evidence. (Escobedo v. Marshalls (2005) 70 Cal.Comp.Cases 604, 611, 620-621 (Appeals Board en banc).) To constitute substantial evidence "... a medical opinion must be framed in terms of reasonable medical probability, it must not be speculative, it must be based on pertinent facts and on an adequate examination and history, and it must set forth reasoning in support of its conclusions." (Id. at 621.) Causation of disability is not to be confused with causation of injury. (Id. at 611.)
What proof carried it
The evidence the panel weighed, by kind.
Applicant's petition for reconsideration was supported by medical evidence from AME Jon Greenfield and PTP Dr. Chon regarding temporary disability period.
From the decision · page 5There is no dispute regarding the end date of the temporary disability period. In the agreed medical examiner Jon Greenfield, M.D.'s report dated August 15, 2022, in the discussion section it states "Dr. Chon, in his note of 7/21/2016, indicated that the applicant was totally temporarily disabled." The undersigned WCJ incorrectly believed that was the first time Dr. Chon placed Applicant on temporary disability. However, in the record review section of the report it states "on 2/18/2016, the applicant was placed on temporary disability as of 2/18/2016." Applicant's petition for reconsideration it is correct and should be granted. The undersigned WCJ's award should be modified by the recon unit or returned to the trial court, to correct: the period of temporary disability; period where Labor Code § 4850 benefits should be paid; and the period and rate at which temporary disability should be paid. (Report, p. 2.)
The same issues, filtered across the whole corpus — or paste your own facts and let the search rank by factor match.
About this page
- A published decision of the California Workers' Compensation Appeals Board, taken apart by what it turned on. The Board publishes the decision itself; this page adds the extraction and quotes the passage behind every claim.
- The injured worker is not named here, and the case caption is not printed. Physicians appear as the decision names them, because a medical opinion is an act in a public proceeding.
- Issues, outcomes and weights were extracted by AI and released only where the source passage checked. Read the official decision before relying on anything here. Not legal advice.
- If you are named in this decision and want this page removed, write to privacy@similarcase.com.