What the panel ordered
Petition for Reconsideration denied.
Petition for Reconsideration filed by defendants was denied by the WCAB panel after review of the WCJ report and record.
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 panel QME's apportionment opinion was found not to be substantial medical evidence because it was speculative, inadequately explained, and inconsistent with the medical record and principles of apportionment.
From the decision · page 1Labor Code section 4663(a) provides that "[a]pportionment of permanent disability shall be based on causation." (Lab. Code, § 4663(a).) Section 4664(a) states that "[t]he employer shall only be liable for the percentage of permanent disability directly caused by the injury arising out of and occurring in the course of employment." (Lab. Code, § 4664(a).) The defendant has the burden of proof on the issue of apportionment. (Kopping v. Workers' Comp. Appeals Bd. (2006) 142 Cal.App.4th 1099, 1114 [71 Cal.Comp.Cases 1229].) For the reasons stated by the WCJ in the report, we agree that defendant did not meet that burden here.