What the panel ordered
Affirmed the WCJ's Findings, Orders and Award except amended the permanent disability indemnity commencement date to April 17, 2014; deferred attorney fees and commutation issues; returned matter to WCJ for further proceedings on deferred issues.
Defendant sought reconsideration of the WCJ's June 11, 2019 Findings, Orders and Award; WCJ recommended denial of the petition; the Board granted reconsideration to further study factual and legal issues and issued this decision affirming the F&A with amendments and deferrals.
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 Board agreed with the WCJ and AME Dr. Seymour Levine that the lymphatic cancer was caused by employment and constituted a cumulative injury merged with the prior cardiovascular injury, consistent with statutory and case law.
From the decision · page 3Having reviewed the trial record, we agree with the WCJ that based on the reports and deposition testimony of the internal medicine agreed medical examiner (AME) Seymour Levine, M.D., and the Labor Code section 3212.1 presumption, the cause of applicant's lymphatic cancer was his 27 years of employment by defendant as a deputy sheriff. (Report, p. 4; F&A, p. 5, Amended Opinion on Decision.) When multiple body parts are injured contemporaneously, such as during an identical cumulative trauma period, they are considered a single injury. (State Comp. Ins. Fund v. Workers' Comp. Appeals Bd. (Hurley) (1977) 70 Cal.App.3d 599 [42 Cal.Comp.Cases 481]; see also Hegglin v. Workers' Comp. Appeals Bd. (1971) 4 Cal.3d 162 [36 Cal.Comp.Cases 93].)
The Board held that the permanent disability indemnity payments should commence retroactively to April 17, 2014, the original permanent and stationary date, consistent with prior Board decisions and Labor Code provisions.
From the decision · page 3Finally, regarding the issue of whether the payment of the permanent total disability indemnity should commence as of April 21, 2017, the Appeals Board has held that:
The facts that decided it
What the panel treated as outcome-determinative, and which side it favoured.
Applicant's lymphatic cancer was caused by his 27 years of employment as a deputy sheriff, supported by AME Dr. Seymour Levine's reports and Labor Code section 3212.1 presumption.
Favours Applicant prevailed
This fact supported the finding that the cancer injury was part of the cumulative injury and justified reopening and merging the claims.
From the decision · page 3Having reviewed the trial record, we agree with the WCJ that based on the reports and deposition testimony of the internal medicine agreed medical examiner (AME) Seymour Levine, M.D., and the Labor Code section 3212.1 presumption, the cause of applicant's lymphatic cancer was his 27 years of employment by defendant as a deputy sheriff. (Report, p. 4; F&A, p. 5, Amended Opinion on Decision.) When multiple body parts are injured contemporaneously, such as during an identical cumulative trauma period, they are considered a single injury. (State Comp. Ins. Fund v. Workers' Comp. Appeals Bd. (Hurley) (1977) 70 Cal.App.3d 599 [42 Cal.Comp.Cases 481]; see also Hegglin v. Workers' Comp. Appeals Bd. (1971) 4 Cal.3d 162 [36 Cal.Comp.Cases 93].)
Permanent disability indemnity payments should commence retroactively to April 17, 2014, the original permanent and stationary date, consistent with Labor Code sections 4650 and 4661 and prior Board decisions.
Favours Applicant prevailed
This fact determined the amendment of the commencement date for permanent disability indemnity payments in the award.
From the decision · page 3Finally, regarding the issue of whether the payment of the permanent total disability indemnity should commence as of April 21, 2017, the Appeals Board has held that:
What the panel did with the medical opinions
The role the physician served, and the weight the opinion carried. Physicians are named here as the decision names them; we do not score them.
Dr. Levine opined that the applicant's lymphatic cancer was caused by his 27 years of employment as a deputy sheriff, supporting the cumulative injury claim under Labor Code section 3212.1 presumption.
The Board relied on Dr. Levine's reports and deposition testimony to find the cancer was employment-related and part of the cumulative injury.
From the decision · page 3Having reviewed the trial record, we agree with the WCJ that based on the reports and deposition testimony of the internal medicine agreed medical examiner (AME) Seymour Levine, M.D., and the Labor Code section 3212.1 presumption, the cause of applicant's lymphatic cancer was his 27 years of employment by defendant as a deputy sheriff. (Report, p. 4; F&A, p. 5, Amended Opinion on Decision.) When multiple body parts are injured contemporaneously, such as during an identical cumulative trauma period, they are considered a single injury. (State Comp. Ins. Fund v. Workers' Comp. Appeals Bd. (Hurley) (1977) 70 Cal.App.3d 599 [42 Cal.Comp.Cases 481]; see also Hegglin v. Workers' Comp. Appeals Bd. (1971) 4 Cal.3d 162 [36 Cal.Comp.Cases 93].)
The rules the panel named
Authorities as the decision cited them, with how this panel applied each one.
California Labor Code
Labor Code section 3212.1 presumption
Applied to find the lymphatic cancer was caused by employment and part of the cumulative injury.
From the decision · page 3Having reviewed the trial record, we agree with the WCJ that based on the reports and deposition testimony of the internal medicine agreed medical examiner (AME) Seymour Levine, M.D., and the Labor Code section 3212.1 presumption, the cause of applicant's lymphatic cancer was his 27 years of employment by defendant as a deputy sheriff. (Report, p. 4; F&A, p. 5, Amended Opinion on Decision.) When multiple body parts are injured contemporaneously, such as during an identical cumulative trauma period, they are considered a single injury. (State Comp. Ins. Fund v. Workers' Comp. Appeals Bd. (Hurley) (1977) 70 Cal.App.3d 599 [42 Cal.Comp.Cases 481]; see also Hegglin v. Workers' Comp. Appeals Bd. (1971) 4 Cal.3d 162 [36 Cal.Comp.Cases 93].)
California Labor Code
Labor Code sections 4650 and 4661
Applied to determine the retroactive commencement date for permanent disability indemnity payments.
From the decision · page 3Finally, regarding the issue of whether the payment of the permanent total disability indemnity should commence as of April 21, 2017, the Appeals Board has held that:
What proof carried it
The evidence the panel weighed, by kind.
Reports and deposition testimony of AME Seymour Levine, and Labor Code section 3212.1 presumption
From the decision · page 3Having reviewed the trial record, we agree with the WCJ that based on the reports and deposition testimony of the internal medicine agreed medical examiner (AME) Seymour Levine, M.D., and the Labor Code section 3212.1 presumption, the cause of applicant's lymphatic cancer was his 27 years of employment by defendant as a deputy sheriff. (Report, p. 4; F&A, p. 5, Amended Opinion on Decision.) When multiple body parts are injured contemporaneously, such as during an identical cumulative trauma period, they are considered a single injury. (State Comp. Ins. Fund v. Workers' Comp. Appeals Bd. (Hurley) (1977) 70 Cal.App.3d 599 [42 Cal.Comp.Cases 481]; see also Hegglin v. Workers' Comp. Appeals Bd. (1971) 4 Cal.3d 162 [36 Cal.Comp.Cases 93].)
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