What the panel ordered
Petition for Reconsideration/Removal denied; Order Approving Compromise and Release remains set aside for inadequacy of settlement.
Defendant petitioned for reconsideration of the WCJ's June 3, 2021 decision setting aside the August 7, 2019 Order Approving Compromise and Release for inadequacy of settlement; WCAB treated the petition as one for removal and denied it.
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.
Relevant medical evidence in existence at the time of settlement was not submitted with the Compromise and Release, depriving applicant of a full inquiry into adequacy; the settlement amount was inadequate for an admitted head injury.
From the decision · page 3In this case, relevant medical evidence in existence at the time of the settlement was not submitted with the Compromise and Release as required by WCAB Rule 10700 depriving applicant of a full inquiry into the adequacy of the agreement. Given the facts of this case, we agree with the WCJ that the procedural defects and the inadequacy of the settlement constitute good cause. (See Aliano v. Workers' Comp. Appeals Bd., (1979) 100 Cal.App.3d 341, 366 [44 Cal.Comp.Cases 1156] [Good cause to reopen existed where defendant failed to fulfill its duty to adequately and fairly investigate the injured worker's claim and to present the full medical picture to the Appeals Board resulting in an inequitable decision based upon medical reports that did not constitute substantial evidence]); see also Fidelity & Cas. Co. of New York v. Workers' Comp. Appeals Bd. (1980) 103 Cal.App.3d 1001, 1010 [45 Cal. Comp. Cases 381].)