What the panel ordered
The WCAB rescinded the Findings of Fact and Orders issued on September 17, 2020, and approved the Compromise and Release filed May 24, 2021, awarding settlement as specified.
Defendant Zurich American Insurance Company petitioned for reconsideration of the WCJ's Findings of Fact and Orders issued on September 17, 2020, which found applicant entitled to ongoing in-patient supportive care. The WCJ recommended denial of the petition. The parties later resolved the claims by compromise and release, which was filed May 24, 2021.
This docket was decided more than once. Shown here is the latest released decision; we also hold May 14, 2021.
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 WCJ found entitlement to ongoing in-patient supportive care, but the parties resolved the claim by compromise and release, which the WCAB approved as adequate and in the applicant's best interest.
From the decision · page 1I. Defendant, Zurich American Insurance Company, petitions for reconsideration of the Findings of Fact and Orders issued by the workers' compensation administrative law judge (WCJ) in this matter on September 17, 2020. In that decision, the WCJ found that applicant, is in need of ongoing in-patient supportive care to cure and relieve him from the effects of his industrial injury. Defendant contends in its petition for reconsideration that the WCJ erred in finding that applicant is entitled in-patient supportive care. Applicant filed an answer to the petition for reconsideration, contending that it should be denied. The WCJ issued a report in which he recommended that defendant's petition for reconsideration be denied. Subsequently, at our request the parties participated in a commissioners' settlement conference and agreed to resolve applicant's claims by compromise and release. Applicant's adult daughter, Andrea the applicant, was appointed Guardian ad Litem and Trustee (GAL) on May 14, 2021. The GAL signed the Compromise and Release, in behalf of applicant. The Compromise and Release was filed on May 24, 2021.
The facts that decided it
What the panel treated as outcome-determinative, and which side it favoured.
The parties agreed to resolve the applicant's claims by compromise and release, which was filed on May 24, 2021.
Favours Defendant prevailed
This agreement led the WCAB to rescind the prior Findings of Fact and Orders and approve the settlement, changing the outcome from the WCJ's original decision.
From the decision · page 1I. Defendant, Zurich American Insurance Company, petitions for reconsideration of the Findings of Fact and Orders issued by the workers' compensation administrative law judge (WCJ) in this matter on September 17, 2020. In that decision, the WCJ found that applicant, is in need of ongoing in-patient supportive care to cure and relieve him from the effects of his industrial injury. Defendant contends in its petition for reconsideration that the WCJ erred in finding that applicant is entitled in-patient supportive care. Applicant filed an answer to the petition for reconsideration, contending that it should be denied. The WCJ issued a report in which he recommended that defendant's petition for reconsideration be denied. Subsequently, at our request the parties participated in a commissioners' settlement conference and agreed to resolve applicant's claims by compromise and release. Applicant's adult daughter, Andrea the applicant, was appointed Guardian ad Litem and Trustee (GAL) on May 14, 2021. The GAL signed the Compromise and Release, in behalf of applicant. The Compromise and Release was filed on May 24, 2021.
The rules the panel named
Authorities as the decision cited them, with how this panel applied each one.
Labor Code section 5001
No release of liability or compromise agreement is valid unless approved by the appeals board.
The WCAB reviewed and approved the compromise and release agreement.
From the decision · page 2Labor Code section 5001 states in pertinent part that "[n]o release of liability or compromise agreement is valid unless it is approved by appeals board or referee." WCAB Rule 10700 states that:
Cal. Code Regs., tit. 8, 10700
The appeals board shall inquire into the adequacy of all compromise and release agreements and may set the matter for hearing to determine approval.
The WCAB considered the adequacy of the compromise and release agreement and approved it.
From the decision · page 2"The Workers' Compensation Appeals Board shall inquire into the adequacy of all compromise and release agreements and stipulations with request for award, and may set the matter for hearing to take evidence when necessary to determine whether the agreement should be approved or disapproved, or issue findings and awards." (Cal. Code Regs., tit. 8, § 10700.)
Labor Code section 5002
Upon filing and approval by the appeals board, it may enter its award based upon the release or compromise agreement.
The WCAB entered its award based on the approved compromise and release agreement.
From the decision · page 2Labor Code section 5002 states that: "A copy of the release or compromise agreement signed by both parties shall forthwith be filed with the appeals board. Upon filing with and approval by the appeals board, it may, without notice, of its own motion or on the application of either party, enter its award based upon the release or compromise agreement."
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About this page
- A published decision of the California Workers' Compensation Appeals Board, taken apart by what it turned on. The Board publishes the decision itself; this page adds the extraction and quotes the passage behind every claim.
- The injured worker is not named here, and the case caption is not printed. Physicians appear as the decision names them, because a medical opinion is an act in a public proceeding.
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