What the panel ordered
Petition for Reconsideration granted; final decision deferred pending further review of merits and entire record.
Applicant sought reconsideration of the WCJ's July 29, 2024 Findings of Fact and Order denying injury AOE/COE. The WCJ recommended denial of reconsideration. The Appeals Board granted reconsideration and deferred final decision pending further review.
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 Appeals Board preliminarily found the issue of injury AOE/COE requires further review, noting the assault allegation and the need to study the applicability of Labor Code section 3600(c).
From the decision · page 3III. Section 3600(a) provides for liability for injuries sustained "arising out of and in the course of the employment." An employer is liable for workers' compensation benefits "without regard to negligence." (Lab. Code, § 3600(a).) The course of employment ordinarily refers to the time, place, and circumstances under which the injury occurs. (Latourette v. Workers' Comp. Appeals Bd. (1998) 17 Cal.4th 644, 651 [63 Cal.Comp.Cases 253].) Arising out of employment means that it must occur as a reason of a condition or incident of the employment; the employment and the injury must be linked in some causal fashion. (Id.) An employee bears the burden of proving injury AOE/COE by a preponderance of the evidence. (South Coast Framing, Inc. v. Workers' Comp. Appeals Bd. (Clark) (2015) 61 Cal.4th 291, 297-298, 302 [80 Cal.Comp.Cases 489]; Lab. Code, § 3600(a), 3202.5.) Whether an employee's injury arose out of and in the course of employment is generally a question of fact to be determined in light of the particular circumstances of the case. (Wright v.