What the panel ordered
The WCAB rescinded the WCJ's decision that defendant is not barred from obtaining third-party credit pursuant to Civil Code section 3333.1 and amended the decision to bar defendant from obtaining third-party credit for any workers' compensation benefits paid or due.
Petitions for reconsideration filed by applicant and defendant were granted to further study legal and factual issues; this decision is after reconsideration of the WCJ's Findings & Order issued June 29, 2018.
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 substantial evidence that the applicant's civil action settlement was demonstrably reduced by consideration of collateral source payments, barring defendant from third-party credit under Civil Code section 3333.1 and Graham.
From the decision · page 12it is our decision after reconsideration to rescind the WCJ's decision that defendant is not barred from obtaining third-party credit pursuant to Civil Code section 3333.1 (F&O, Findings of Fact, Nos. 2-3, and Order). It is also our decision after reconsideration to amend the WCJ's decision to include his determination that "the description of the causes of action in the [civil] complaint and the facts set forth in Plaintiff's [applicant's] mediation brief, do establish facts that are sufficient to state a cause of action for professional negligence" pursuant to section 3333.1 and Flores v. Presbyterian Intercommunity Hospital (2016) 63 Cal. 4th 75 [2016 Cal. LEXIS 2561] (Flores)