What the panel ordered
The WCAB rescinded the July 15, 2022 Findings and Order and substituted findings that applicant's subsequent permanent disability equals 35% or more of his total disability when considered alone and without regard to occupation or age. The issues of combined preexisting and subsequent permanent partial disability exceeding subsequent permanent disability alone and whether it equals 70% or more are deferred. The matter is returned to the trial level for further proceedings.
Applicant seeks reconsideration of the Findings and Order issued on July 15, 2022, which denied benefits from the Subsequent Injuries Benefit Trust Fund (SIBTF) and found 34% permanent disability from a 2009 injury. The WCJ had ordered denial of SIBTF benefits. The WCAB granted reconsideration to study factual and legal issues and issued a decision after reconsideration.
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 applicant's subsequent permanent disability equals 35% or more of his total disability when considered alone and without regard to occupation or age, based on the Bookout precedent excluding apportionment from the calculation of subsequent permanent disability.
From the decision · page 11