What the panel ordered
The Appeals Board panel affirmed the WCJ's August 16, 2021 Findings of Fact and Order to Take Nothing on the SIBTF Petition, denying applicant's claim for benefits from the Subsequent Injuries Benefits Trust Fund.
Applicant sought reconsideration of the WCJ's August 16, 2021 Findings of Fact and Order to Take Nothing on SIBTF Petition, which was denied by the WCJ and then affirmed by the Appeals Board panel 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 applicant failed to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that he had a pre-existing permanent partial disability that was labor disabling prior to the subsequent industrial injury, despite the hypertension being apportioned 70% to non-industrial factors. The apportionment of present disability to non-industrial causes does not establish that the disability pre-existed the industrial injury without medical opinion supporting that fact.
From the decision · page 1Applicant seeks reconsideration of the "Findings of Fact and Order to Take Nothing on SIBTF Petition" (F&O) issued on August 16, 2021, by the workers' compensation administrative law judge (WCJ). The WCJ found, in pertinent part, that applicant failed to meet the burden of proving a pre-existing permanent partial disability and ordered that applicant take nothing on his claim of benefits from the Subsequent Injuries Benefits Trust Fund (SIBTF).