What the panel ordered
The Appeals Board affirmed the Findings and Order dated September 7, 2019, denying Hartford's petition for reconsideration and confirming the date of injury as May 15, 2018, based on Dr. Rostami's permanent and stationary report.
Petition for reconsideration filed by Hartford Insurance Company challenging the date of injury and permanent disability evidence; the Appeals Board granted reconsideration and issued a Decision After Reconsideration affirming the prior Findings and Order.
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 found that the date of injury is May 15, 2018, based on Dr. Rostami's May 15, 2018 report declaring the applicant permanent and stationary with 21% whole person impairment, and rejected Hartford's contention that the date should be earlier based on lack of substantial medical evidence before that date.
From the decision · page 2Cases 579], the Court of Appeal concluded that the date of injury under Labor Code section 5500.5 requires compensable temporary disability or permanent disability, that medical treatment alone is not disability but may be evidence of compensable permanent disability, and that these are factual determinations which require expert medical opinion. In this case, Hartford contends that the date of injury is May 19, 2017 because that is when applicant began treating with Dr. Rostami, and there was permanent disability from the outset because applicant's condition remained the same during the doctor's treatment for the year that followed. It was after that time, on May 15, 2018, that Dr. Rostami declared applicant permanent and stationary (P&S) and formally determined that he had sustained permanent disability. According to Hartford, May 15, 2018 is not the date of cumulative trauma because Dr.
The facts that decided it
What the panel treated as outcome-determinative, and which side it favoured.
Dr. Rostami's May 15, 2018 report declared the applicant permanent and stationary with 21% whole person impairment, establishing the date of injury.
Favours Applicant prevailed
This medical opinion was the only substantial evidence supporting the date of injury and permanent disability, leading to the Board's decision to affirm the date as May 15, 2018.
From the decision · page 2Cases 579], the Court of Appeal concluded that the date of injury under Labor Code section 5500.5 requires compensable temporary disability or permanent disability, that medical treatment alone is not disability but may be evidence of compensable permanent disability, and that these are factual determinations which require expert medical opinion. In this case, Hartford contends that the date of injury is May 19, 2017 because that is when applicant began treating with Dr. Rostami, and there was permanent disability from the outset because applicant's condition remained the same during the doctor's treatment for the year that followed. It was after that time, on May 15, 2018, that Dr. Rostami declared applicant permanent and stationary (P&S) and formally determined that he had sustained permanent disability. According to Hartford, May 15, 2018 is not the date of cumulative trauma because Dr.
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.
Declared applicant permanent and stationary on May 15, 2018, with 21% whole person impairment; no medical opinion supported compensable disability before that date.
The Board relied on Dr. Rostami's May 15, 2018 report as substantial evidence for the date of injury and permanent disability determination, rejecting earlier date contentions due to lack of medical opinion.
From the decision · page 2Cases 579], the Court of Appeal concluded that the date of injury under Labor Code section 5500.5 requires compensable temporary disability or permanent disability, that medical treatment alone is not disability but may be evidence of compensable permanent disability, and that these are factual determinations which require expert medical opinion. In this case, Hartford contends that the date of injury is May 19, 2017 because that is when applicant began treating with Dr. Rostami, and there was permanent disability from the outset because applicant's condition remained the same during the doctor's treatment for the year that followed. It was after that time, on May 15, 2018, that Dr. Rostami declared applicant permanent and stationary (P&S) and formally determined that he had sustained permanent disability. According to Hartford, May 15, 2018 is not the date of cumulative trauma because Dr.
The rules the panel named
Authorities as the decision cited them, with how this panel applied each one.
State Compensation Insurance Fund v. Workers' Comp. Appeals Board (Rodarte) (2004) 119 Cal.App.4th 998
Date of injury under Labor Code section 5500.5 requires compensable temporary or permanent disability; medical treatment alone is not disability but may be evidence of compensable permanent disability.
The Board applied this standard to determine that the date of injury is the date of permanent disability as declared by Dr. Rostami, rejecting earlier date contentions without substantial medical evidence.
From the decision · page 2Cases 579], the Court of Appeal concluded that the date of injury under Labor Code section 5500.5 requires compensable temporary disability or permanent disability, that medical treatment alone is not disability but may be evidence of compensable permanent disability, and that these are factual determinations which require expert medical opinion. In this case, Hartford contends that the date of injury is May 19, 2017 because that is when applicant began treating with Dr. Rostami, and there was permanent disability from the outset because applicant's condition remained the same during the doctor's treatment for the year that followed. It was after that time, on May 15, 2018, that Dr. Rostami declared applicant permanent and stationary (P&S) and formally determined that he had sustained permanent disability. According to Hartford, May 15, 2018 is not the date of cumulative trauma because Dr.
What proof carried it
The evidence the panel weighed, by kind.
Applicant's deposition testimony showing continued symptoms during treatment supports the inference that the injurious exposure continued through May 15, 2018.
From the decision · page 3including applicant's deposition testimony considered in conjunction with Dr. Rostami's May 15, 2018 report. We further note that Hartford emphasizes throughout its petition that applicant continued to work his regular duties throughout his course of treatment by Dr. Rostami from May 2017 to May 2018. This fact, combined with the fact that applicant's deposition shows he remained symptomatic during treatment, supports a reasonable inference that the period of injurious exposure continued through May 15, 2018, when Dr. Rostami declared applicant P&S and assessed him with Whole Person Impairment ("WPI") of 21%. (See Guerra v. Workers' Comp. Appeals Bd. (2016) 246 Cal.App.4th 1301, 1307-1308 (81 Cal.Comp.Cases 324) [The Board may properly rely upon circumstantial evidence, based upon the reasonable inferences that arise from the reasonable probabilities flowing from the evidence.].)
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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.
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