What the panel ordered
Petition for Reconsideration denied.
Petition for Reconsideration filed by applicant and denied by the Appeals Board on September 23, 2025, after review of the WCJ's July 2, 2025 Findings of Fact, Award and Orders.
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.
ApportionmentDefendant prevailedleft knee
The Panel Qualified Medical Evaluator, Dr. Sean Robinson, provided substantial medical evidence supporting a 60% industrial apportionment and 40% non-industrial apportionment based on detailed examination, history, and medical records, which the Appeals Board found legally valid and supported the denial of reconsideration.
From the decision · page 3Defendant has the burden of proof on the issue of apportionment. (Escobedo v. Marshalls (2005) 70 Cal.Comp.Cases 604 (Appeals Board en banc).) Apportionment of permanent disability must be based on causation (Lab. Code, § 4663) and may be attributed to pathology, asymptomatic prior conditions, and retroactive prophylactic work preclusions, provided there is substantial medical evidence establishing that these other factors have caused permanent disability. (Yeager Construction v. Workers' Comp. Appeals Bd. (Gatten) (2006) 145 Cal.App.4th 922, 928 [71 Cal.Comp.Cases 1687] citing Escobedo v. Marshalls, supra, at 612.) Permanent disability must be apportioned in accordance with substantial medical evidence. (Acme Steel v. Workers' Comp. Appeals Bd. (Borman) (2013) 218 Cal.App.4th 1137 [78 Cal.Comp.Cases 751])