Authorities as the decision cited them, with how this panel applied each one.
McAllister v WCAB, 33 CCC 660 (1968)
Expert medical evidence is required to establish industrial causation by a reasonable medical probability.
Applied to require medical opinion on causation of Covid-19 injury and wrist injury.
From the decision · page 6injury and the assertions about the cause of injury by medical opinion. [Western
Growers Ins. Co. v. WCAB (1993) 58 CCC 323]. Expert medical evidence is
required to establish industrial causation by a reasonable medical probability
[McAllister v WCAB, 33 CCC 660 (1968)]. Likewise, medical probability is
required for an adverse finding as well. Neither Applicant's nor the employer's
testimony is a substitute for medical proof [Bstandig v. WCAB, 42 CCC 114
(1977)]. Again, the record needs to be developed further.
Bstandig v. WCAB, 42 CCC 114 (1977)
Medical probability is required for an adverse finding of no injury as well as for a finding of injury.
Applied to require medical substantiation for both findings of injury and no injury.
From the decision · page 6injury and the assertions about the cause of injury by medical opinion. [Western
Growers Ins. Co. v. WCAB (1993) 58 CCC 323]. Expert medical evidence is
required to establish industrial causation by a reasonable medical probability
[McAllister v WCAB, 33 CCC 660 (1968)]. Likewise, medical probability is
required for an adverse finding as well. Neither Applicant's nor the employer's
testimony is a substitute for medical proof [Bstandig v. WCAB, 42 CCC 114
(1977)]. Again, the record needs to be developed further.
Aldi v. Carr, McClellan, Ingersoll, Thompson & Horn (2006) 71 Cal.Comp.Cases 783
A decision on threshold issues such as injury arising out of employment is a final decision subject to reconsideration.
Applied to determine finality of WCJ decision on injury issue.
From the decision · page 1Case No. ADJ14200347
If a decision includes resolution of a "threshold" issue, then it is a "final" decision, whether
or not all issues are resolved or there is an ultimate decision on the right to benefits. (Aldi v. Carr,
McClellan, Ingersoll, Thompson & Horn (2006) 71 Cal.Comp.Cases 783, 784, fn. 2 (Appeals
Board en banc).) Threshold issues include, but are not limited to, the following: injury arising out
of and in the course of employment, jurisdiction, the existence of an employment relationship and
statute of limitations issues. (See Capital Builders Hardware, Inc. v. Workers' Comp. Appeals Bd.
(Gaona) (2016) 5 Cal.App.5th 658, 662 [81 Cal.Comp.Cases 1122].) Failure to timely petition for
reconsideration of a final decision bars later challenge to the propriety of the decision before the
WCAB or court of appeal. (See Lab. Code, § 5904.) Alternatively, non-final decisions may later
be challenged by a petition for reconsideration once a final decision issues.
A decision issued by the Appeals Board may address a hybrid of both threshold and
interlocutory issues. If a party challenges a hybrid decision, the petition seeking relief is treated
as a petition for reconsideration because the decision resolves a threshold issue. However, if the