What the panel ordered
Petition for Reconsideration granted; Findings and Order amended to find a contested claim existed on February 10, 2023; otherwise Findings and Order affirmed.
Defendant sought reconsideration of the WCJ's Findings and Order issued on February 18, 2025, regarding contested claim status and reasonableness of services; WCJ recommended denial of reconsideration; the Appeals Board granted reconsideration and amended the 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 a contested claim existed on February 10, 2023, contrary to the WCJ's narrow finding, because defendant continued to dispute liability for some claimed body parts and benefits, thus meeting the statutory definition of a contested claim under Labor Code section 4620.
From the decision · page 5We disagree with the WCJ's finding as to whether a contested claim existed because the WCJ appears to construe the meaning of "contested issues" very narrowly. Defendant authorized treatment and eventually accepted liability for two body parts, but this did not mean that defendant did not dispute any other issues such as injury to other claimed body parts, temporary disability and permanent disability. As is demonstrated by defendant's Answer and the WCJ's OACR, defendant continued to dispute liability for benefits throughout the pendency of applicant's case.