What the panel ordered
The WCAB granted the Petition for Reconsideration, rescinded the WCJ's Order Denying Joinder, and ordered Berkshire Hathaway Homestate Insurance Company joined as a party defendant.
Defendant Everest National Insurance sought removal of the WCJ's Order Denying Joinder issued on April 2, 2021, which denied defendant's Petition for Joinder to add Berkshire Hathaway Homestate Insurance as a party defendant. The WCAB granted reconsideration, rescinded the Order, and issued a new decision granting the Petition for Joinder.
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 parties stipulated that the injury was cumulative trauma, allowing amendment of the claim and joinder of Berkshire Hathaway Homestate Insurance as a party defendant. The WCJ erred in denying the joinder.
From the decision · page 1Defendant Everest National Insurance seeks removal of the Order Denying Joinder (Order) issued by the workers' compensation administrative law judge (WCJ) on April 2, 2021. By the Order, the WCJ denied defendant's Petition for Joinder to join Berkshire Hathaway Homestate Insurance (Berkshire) as a party defendant. The Petition was denied because applicant pled the claim as a specific injury, although the parties stipulated in the settlement agreement that the claim was a cumulative trauma injury.