What the panel ordered
Findings and Order rescinded; case remanded for further proceedings consistent with this decision.
Petition for reconsideration granted; Findings and Order of April 9, 2021 rescinded; matter returned to trial level for further proceedings on employment period and sudden extraordinary event issues.
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 WCJ misassigned the burden of proof on the six-month employment requirement to the applicant, and the evidence was insufficient to establish the employment period was less than six months. The matter was remanded for further development of the record on whether the applicant's employment period substantially complies with the six-month requirement and whether the injury resulted from a sudden and extraordinary event.
From the decision · page 1Applicant seeks reconsideration of the Findings and Order (F&O) issued on April 9, 2021, wherein the workers' compensation administrative law judge (WCJ) found that while employed as a customer service representative during the period of June 29, 2019 through March 4, 2020, applicant did not sustain injury arising out of and in the course of employment through a sudden and extraordinary event which qualifies for an exception to the 6-month employment requirement of Labor Code section 3208.3(d).