What the panel ordered
The Appeals Board rescinded the WCJ's Findings of Fact and Order, granted applicant's December 11, 2019 Petition for Commutation, approved the parties' stipulation, and awarded the commutation using the Disability Evaluation Unit calculation of August 2, 2022.
Defendant sought reconsideration of the Findings of Fact and Order issued by the WCJ on February 28, 2020, which granted applicant's Petition for Commutation. The WCJ recommended granting the Petition and recalculating the commutation amount. The Appeals Board granted reconsideration and issued this decision after reconsideration.
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 good cause to grant the Petition for Commutation based on the applicant's financial condition, testimony, and parties' stipulation on the commutation amount.
From the decision · page 2BACKGROUND Applicant claimed injury to her hips, low back, right knee, psyche, nervous system, and in the form of complex regional pain syndrome, while employed by defendant as a program technician on April 21, 2009. Pursuant to the March 24, 2017 Joint Findings and Award, applicant was permanently totally (100%) disabled as a result the April 21, 2009 injury. Thereafter applicant submitted three requests for commutation of different amounts, and each request was granted. On December 11, 2019, applicant field a Petition for Commutation requesting commutation of the remaining balance of the future permanent disability benefits. The parties proceeded to trial on January 15, 2020. Applicant testified regarding her monthly income and her monthly expenses, including her mortgage payments. She testified that she had requested the commutation so she could pay off the mortgage. (Minutes of Hearing and Summary of Evidence (MOH/SOE), January 15, 2020, pp. 3 - 4.) The request for commutation was the issue submitted for decision. (MOH/SOE, p. 2.)