What the panel ordered
The WCJ's December 1, 2020 Findings and Award is rescinded and the matter is returned to the trial level for further proceedings consistent with the opinion.
Applicant sought reconsideration of the Findings and Award issued by the WCJ on December 1, 2020, which found industrial injury and permanent disability rating using the Combined Values Chart (CVC). The WCAB granted reconsideration to study the factual and legal issues further.
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 WCAB found that the parties litigated the issue under an incorrect legal theory focusing on body parts rather than overlapping activities of daily living (ADLs). The medical evaluators failed to establish whether the impact on ADLs overlapped or if there was a synergistic impact. Therefore, the matter was remanded for further development of the record to address the correct standard for CVC rebuttal.
From the decision · page 6The parties proceeded to trial on an incorrect legal theory. Throughout the reporting in this matter the evaluators failed to establish whether the impact upon applicant's ADLs overlapped. If applicant's ADL impacts do overlap, the evaluators failed to opine on whether there was a synergistic impact upon the ADLs. In deposition, applicant focused on whether the body parts rated were distinct. That issue is irrelevant.