What the panel ordered
Findings and Award of May 6, 2020 rescinded; Compromise and Release filed May 25, 2021 approved; award made per settlement.
Petitions for reconsideration filed by both applicant and defendant; WCJ issued Findings and Award on May 6, 2020; reconsideration granted to amend permanent disability indemnity award.
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.
Permanent disability ratingMixedunspecified
The WCJ's permanent partial disability rating was amended from 98% to 99%, rejecting applicant's contention for permanent total disability and defendant's contention for a rating below 48%.
From the decision · page 1I. applicant, and defendant, ACE American Insurance Company, each petition for reconsideration of the Findings and Award issued by the workers' compensation administrative law judge (WCJ) in this matter on May 6, 2020. In that decision, the WCJ found that applicant's injury arising out of and in the course of his employment by Pepsico/Frito-Lay, Inc., on September 21, 2013 (case ADJ9392268) caused permanent partial disability of 98% and need of further medical treatment. Applicant contends in his petition for reconsideration that the WCJ erred in not finding that applicant's injury caused permanent total disability. Defendant contends in its petition for reconsideration that the WCJ erred in finding that applicant's injury caused permanent partial disability in excess of 48%. Each party filed an answer to the opposing party's petition for reconsideration, arguing that the petition should be denied. The WCJ issued a report in which he recommended that reconsideration be granted only to amend the WCJ's decision to award permanent disability indemnity for permanent partial disability of 99%.