What the panel ordered
Defendant's petition for reconsideration is denied.
Defendant filed a petition for reconsideration of the WCJ's Findings of Fact, Orders, and Opinion on Decision issued August 8, 2025, which was denied by the WCAB panel on November 7, 2025.
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 decedent's death was industrially related based on medical evidence from QME Dr. Schmitz and that the claim was timely filed under Labor Code section 5412, as the date of injury for cumulative injury claims is the date the employee first suffered disability and knew or should have known it was work-related. Defendant failed to prove the claim was barred by the statute of limitations.
From the decision · page 2FACTS Decedent applicant died on May 22, 2021, due to heart failure with cardiomyopathy. (Applicant's Exhibit 1, Death Certificate, June 10, 2021.) Decedent had an underlying claim of cumulative injury to multiple body parts, including his feet and hypertension, during an injurious exposure period ending on May 3, 2012. (Minutes of Hearing and Summary of Evidence (MOH/SOE), June 4, 2025, p. 2, lines 4-8.) Qualified medical evaluator (QME) James Schmitz, M.D., evaluated applicant's death and authored two reports in evidence. (Joint Exhibits 1 and 2.) Dr. Schmitz took a history of injury, in pertinent part, as follows: