What the panel ordered
The WCAB panel denied the defendant's Petition for Reconsideration and upheld the WCJ's Joint Findings and Award of 79% permanent disability for both injuries as a single joint award.
Defendant filed a Petition for Reconsideration of the WCJ's Joint Findings and Award of November 24, 2020, which was denied by the WCAB panel.
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.
Permanent disability ratingApplicant prevailedneck · heart · hands · wrists
The WCJ and WCAB found that the heart injury presumption under Labor Code section 3212 and the anti-apportionment provision of section 4663(e) applied, making separate awards for the orthopedic injuries inappropriate and requiring a single joint award.
From the decision · page 1Defendant seeks reconsideration of a workers' compensation administrative law judge's (WCJ) Joint Findings and Award of November 24, 2020, wherein it was found that while employed on September 30, 2016 in case ADJ10625599 as a police officer, applicant sustained industrial injury to his neck and heart. It was also found that while employed as a police officer during a cumulative period ending on July 3, 2017 in case ADJ11025566, applicant sustained industrial injury to his hands/wrists and heart. In finding injury to the heart in both cases, the WCJ applied the "heart trouble" presumption of Labor Code section 3212.5.1 The WCJ then applied Labor Code section 4663(e) which states that section 4663 apportionment does not apply to "injuries or illnesses covered under Section[]... 3212.5," and issued a joint award of 79% permanent disability covering both injuries.