What the panel ordered
Reconsideration granted; WCJ's F&A rescinded; new F&A substituted deferring permanent disability, affirming injury to lumbar spine and RSD; matter returned for further proceedings.
Defendant sought reconsideration of the WCJ's May 8, 2024 Findings and Award. The WCAB granted reconsideration, rescinded the F&A, substituted a new F&A deferring permanent disability, but otherwise affirmed injury findings, and returned the matter for further proceedings.
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.
Substantial evidence, including applicant's credible testimony and the medical reports and deposition of Dr. Tye Ouzounian, supports finding industrial injury to the lumbar spine and in the form of RSD as compensable consequences of the accepted lower extremity injury.
From the decision · page 3Defendant admits industrial injury to the applicant's left foot and ankle. Applicant also alleges injury to her back, internal in the form of diabetes, gait derangement and RSD. Based upon applicant's credible testimony and the medical report(s) of Dr. Tye Ouzounian M.D., dated September 25, 2022 and his deposition of September 13, 2021, and the reports of Dr. Jan Merman, primary 'care physician, it is found that applicant also sustained injury in the form of gait derangement, resulting in lumbar injury as a compensable consequence, arising out of and occurring in the course of employment.
The record is insufficient to rate permanent disability for all claimed body parts; further development is required before a final award can be made.
From the decision · page 7We have deferred the issues of permanent disability, apportionment, and attorney's fees.
The facts that decided it
What the panel treated as outcome-determinative, and which side it favoured.
The record was incomplete for rating permanent disability for all claimed body parts, requiring further development before a final award.
Favours neutral
This fact led to deferral of permanent disability, apportionment, and attorney's fees.
From the decision · page 7We have deferred the issues of permanent disability, apportionment, and attorney's fees.
Applicant's credible testimony and Dr. Ouzounian's medical opinion established that the lumbar injury was a compensable consequence of the accepted lower extremity injury.
Favours Applicant prevailed
This evidence was relied upon to affirm the finding of industrial injury to the lumbar spine and RSD.
From the decision · page 3Defendant admits industrial injury to the applicant's left foot and ankle. Applicant also alleges injury to her back, internal in the form of diabetes, gait derangement and RSD. Based upon applicant's credible testimony and the medical report(s) of Dr. Tye Ouzounian M.D., dated September 25, 2022 and his deposition of September 13, 2021, and the reports of Dr. Jan Merman, primary 'care physician, it is found that applicant also sustained injury in the form of gait derangement, resulting in lumbar injury as a compensable consequence, arising out of and occurring in the course of employment.
What the panel did with the medical opinions
The role the physician served, and the weight the opinion carried. Physicians are named here as the decision names them; we do not score them.
Dr. Ouzounian opined that the applicant's lumbar injury was a compensable consequence of her industrial lower extremity injury, based on her history of altered gait and credible testimony.
Relied upon for finding industrial injury to lumbar spine as compensable consequence.
From the decision · page 3Defendant admits industrial injury to the applicant's left foot and ankle. Applicant also alleges injury to her back, internal in the form of diabetes, gait derangement and RSD. Based upon applicant's credible testimony and the medical report(s) of Dr. Tye Ouzounian M.D., dated September 25, 2022 and his deposition of September 13, 2021, and the reports of Dr. Jan Merman, primary 'care physician, it is found that applicant also sustained injury in the form of gait derangement, resulting in lumbar injury as a compensable consequence, arising out of and occurring in the course of employment.
The rules the panel named
Authorities as the decision cited them, with how this panel applied each one.
Lab. Code §§ 3202.5, 3600(a); Clark, 61 Cal.4th at 297
Applicant must prove by a preponderance of the evidence that an injury occurred AOE/COE. The injury must occur in the course of employment and arise out of employment, requiring a causal link between employment and injury.
Applied to determine whether applicant's lumbar spine and RSD injuries were industrial.
From the decision · page 7§ 3202.5; 3600(a).) The requirement of Labor Code section 3600 is twofold. On the one hand, the injury must occur in the course of the employment. This concept ordinarily refers to the time, place, and circumstances under which the injury occurs. On the other hand, the statute requires that an injury arise out of the employment. It has long been settled that for an injury to arise out of the employment it must occur by reason of a condition or incident of the employment. That is, the employment and the injury must be linked in some causal fashion. (Clark, 61 Cal.4th at 297 (internal citations and quotations omitted).)
What proof carried it
The evidence the panel weighed, by kind.
Applicant's credible testimony regarding onset of back pain due to altered gait from industrial lower extremity injury.
From the decision · page 3Defendant admits industrial injury to the applicant's left foot and ankle. Applicant also alleges injury to her back, internal in the form of diabetes, gait derangement and RSD. Based upon applicant's credible testimony and the medical report(s) of Dr. Tye Ouzounian M.D., dated September 25, 2022 and his deposition of September 13, 2021, and the reports of Dr. Jan Merman, primary 'care physician, it is found that applicant also sustained injury in the form of gait derangement, resulting in lumbar injury as a compensable consequence, arising out of and occurring in the course of employment.
Medical reports and deposition of Dr. Tye Ouzounian supporting compensable consequence injury to lumbar spine and RSD.
From the decision · page 3Defendant admits industrial injury to the applicant's left foot and ankle. Applicant also alleges injury to her back, internal in the form of diabetes, gait derangement and RSD. Based upon applicant's credible testimony and the medical report(s) of Dr. Tye Ouzounian M.D., dated September 25, 2022 and his deposition of September 13, 2021, and the reports of Dr. Jan Merman, primary 'care physician, it is found that applicant also sustained injury in the form of gait derangement, resulting in lumbar injury as a compensable consequence, arising out of and occurring in the course of employment.
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About this page
- A published decision of the California Workers' Compensation Appeals Board, taken apart by what it turned on. The Board publishes the decision itself; this page adds the extraction and quotes the passage behind every claim.
- The injured worker is not named here, and the case caption is not printed. Physicians appear as the decision names them, because a medical opinion is an act in a public proceeding.
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