What the panel ordered
Petition for reconsideration granted; WCJ's Findings and Award of May 20, 2024 amended to defer permanent disability issue; other findings and awards affirmed.
Defendant petitioned for reconsideration of the WCJ's Findings and Award of May 20, 2024, challenging the permanent disability rating; the WCAB granted reconsideration and deferred the permanent disability issue for further development of the medical record.
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 WCJ's permanent disability rating was found not to be based on substantial medical evidence because it impermissibly combined muscle strength and range of motion impairments contrary to AMA Guides Table 17-2. The WCAB granted reconsideration to allow further development of the medical record and reanalysis of the permanent disability issue.
From the decision · page 1Defendant seeks reconsideration of a workers' compensation administrative law judge's (WCJ) Findings and Award of May 20, 2024, wherein it was found that while employed on December 15, 2021, as a ramp service employee, applicant sustained industrial injury to the left heel, left ankle, and in the form of a scar causing permanent disability of 59%.