What the panel ordered
Petition for Reconsideration granted; Findings of Fact of June 1, 2022 rescinded; matter returned to trial level for further proceedings and decision on industrial causation issue.
Defendant sought reconsideration of the WCJ's Findings of Fact of June 1, 2022, which found industrial injury from COVID-19; the WCAB granted reconsideration and rescinded the Findings, returning the matter to the trial level for further development.
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 WCAB found that the medical evidence, specifically Dr. Hirsch's report, was incomplete and insufficient as it lacked a full history including working conditions and co-worker diagnoses, requiring further development of the record on industrial causation.
From the decision · page 1Defendant seeks reconsideration of a workers' compensation administrative law judge's (WCJ) Findings of Fact of June 1, 2022, wherein it was found that, while employed on March 11, 2020 as a probation officer, applicant sustained industrial injury to "the body system, COVID-19, circulatory system, respiratory system, [and] psyche/stress." The only issue at trial was whether applicant's injury arose out of and in the course of her employment. The finding of industrial injury was made both based on the fact that qualified medical evaluator internist Jeffrey A. Hirsch, M.D. found the injury industrial (Finding No. 7) and because the injury was presumed industrial pursuant to Labor Code section 3212.86.