What the panel ordered
Findings and Order of December 28, 2020 rescinded; new finding that both Paul Normandin (insured by Liberty Mutual) and IHCC employed applicant on date of injury; issue of general vs. special employer deferred to trial level; matter returned for further proceedings.
Petitions for Reconsideration granted to review employment and employer status issues; decision after reconsideration issued.
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 Appeals Board found that both Paul Normandin and IHCC employed the applicant on the date of injury, rejecting the independent contractor status for IHCC based on the record and prior findings.
The Appeals Board deferred the issue of general versus special employer to the trial level due to inadequate analysis and to preserve due process rights.
From the decision · page 11In the WCJ's Report, he believes that he inadvertently mixed the analysis of general versus special employment. IHCC objects to this issue arguing that it was not specifically raised on the pre-trial conference statement. The WCJ's opinion does not adequately address the factors of special versus general employment. Accordingly, and as a precaution to preserve all parties rights to due process, we will defer that issue to the trial level to determine in the first instance. (See Hamilton v. Lockheed Corporation (2001) 66 Cal. Comp. Cases 473 (Appeals Board en banc); see also Gangwish v. Workers' Comp. Appeals Bd. (2001) 89 Cal. App. 4th 1284, 1295 [108 Cal. Rptr. 2d 1, 66 Cal. Comp. Cases 584].)