What the panel ordered
The WCAB rescinded the April 23, 2021 Findings and Award and Order and remanded the matter to the WCJ to consider the Compromise and Release and conduct further proceedings as appropriate.
Petitions for reconsideration filed by Zurich American Insurance Company and Insurance Company of the West challenging the WCJ's April 23, 2021 Findings and Award and Order; WCJ recommended denial of petitions; WCAB granted reconsideration and remanded for consideration of a Compromise and Release settlement filed by parties.
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 found cumulative injuries and awarded temporary and permanent disability benefits jointly against Zurich and ICW; the defendants challenged these findings in petitions for reconsideration, but the WCJ recommended denial and the WCAB remanded for settlement consideration.
From the decision · page 1Defendants, Zurich American Insurance Company (Zurich) and Insurance Company of the West (ICW) each petition for reconsideration of the Findings and Award and Order issued by the workers' compensation administrative law judge (WCJ) in this matter on April 23, 2021. In that decision, the WCJ found that applicant sustained cumulative injuries to his cervical spine, shoulders, elbows, wrists, forearms, lumbar spine, knees and pulmonary system and consisting of GERD, constipation and diabetes arising out of and in the course of his employment by Nowell Steel and Supply Company, Inc., as a material handler during periods ending August 16, 2012, and April 26, 2013. The WCJ also found that applicant's injuries caused temporary disability for the periods August 16, 2012, through April 4, 2013, and June 13, 2013, through April 16, 2014, permanent partial disability of 79% and need of further medical treatment. The WCJ made a joint award of benefits against both Zurich and ICW and ordered Zurich to pay and administer benefits.
The facts that decided it
What the panel treated as outcome-determinative, and which side it favoured.
Applicant sustained cumulative injuries to multiple body parts arising out of employment as a material handler during periods ending August 16, 2012, and April 26, 2013.
Favours Applicant prevailed
This finding supported the award of temporary and permanent disability benefits.
From the decision · page 1Defendants, Zurich American Insurance Company (Zurich) and Insurance Company of the West (ICW) each petition for reconsideration of the Findings and Award and Order issued by the workers' compensation administrative law judge (WCJ) in this matter on April 23, 2021. In that decision, the WCJ found that applicant sustained cumulative injuries to his cervical spine, shoulders, elbows, wrists, forearms, lumbar spine, knees and pulmonary system and consisting of GERD, constipation and diabetes arising out of and in the course of his employment by Nowell Steel and Supply Company, Inc., as a material handler during periods ending August 16, 2012, and April 26, 2013. The WCJ also found that applicant's injuries caused temporary disability for the periods August 16, 2012, through April 4, 2013, and June 13, 2013, through April 16, 2014, permanent partial disability of 79% and need of further medical treatment. The WCJ made a joint award of benefits against both Zurich and ICW and ordered Zurich to pay and administer benefits.
The WCJ awarded temporary disability for periods August 16, 2012, through April 4, 2013, and June 13, 2013, through April 16, 2014, and permanent partial disability of 79%.
Favours Applicant prevailed
These awards were challenged by defendants but recommended to be upheld by the WCJ.
From the decision · page 1Defendants, Zurich American Insurance Company (Zurich) and Insurance Company of the West (ICW) each petition for reconsideration of the Findings and Award and Order issued by the workers' compensation administrative law judge (WCJ) in this matter on April 23, 2021. In that decision, the WCJ found that applicant sustained cumulative injuries to his cervical spine, shoulders, elbows, wrists, forearms, lumbar spine, knees and pulmonary system and consisting of GERD, constipation and diabetes arising out of and in the course of his employment by Nowell Steel and Supply Company, Inc., as a material handler during periods ending August 16, 2012, and April 26, 2013. The WCJ also found that applicant's injuries caused temporary disability for the periods August 16, 2012, through April 4, 2013, and June 13, 2013, through April 16, 2014, permanent partial disability of 79% and need of further medical treatment. The WCJ made a joint award of benefits against both Zurich and ICW and ordered Zurich to pay and administer benefits.
The WCJ made a joint award of benefits against both Zurich and ICW and ordered Zurich to pay and administer benefits.
Favours Applicant prevailed
This joint award was challenged by defendants but recommended to be upheld by the WCJ.
From the decision · page 1Defendants, Zurich American Insurance Company (Zurich) and Insurance Company of the West (ICW) each petition for reconsideration of the Findings and Award and Order issued by the workers' compensation administrative law judge (WCJ) in this matter on April 23, 2021. In that decision, the WCJ found that applicant sustained cumulative injuries to his cervical spine, shoulders, elbows, wrists, forearms, lumbar spine, knees and pulmonary system and consisting of GERD, constipation and diabetes arising out of and in the course of his employment by Nowell Steel and Supply Company, Inc., as a material handler during periods ending August 16, 2012, and April 26, 2013. The WCJ also found that applicant's injuries caused temporary disability for the periods August 16, 2012, through April 4, 2013, and June 13, 2013, through April 16, 2014, permanent partial disability of 79% and need of further medical treatment. The WCJ made a joint award of benefits against both Zurich and ICW and ordered Zurich to pay and administer benefits.
The rules the panel named
Authorities as the decision cited them, with how this panel applied each one.
Labor Code
Labor Code
Applied to the issues of disability and joint award of benefits.
From the decision · page 1Defendants, Zurich American Insurance Company (Zurich) and Insurance Company of the West (ICW) each petition for reconsideration of the Findings and Award and Order issued by the workers' compensation administrative law judge (WCJ) in this matter on April 23, 2021. In that decision, the WCJ found that applicant sustained cumulative injuries to his cervical spine, shoulders, elbows, wrists, forearms, lumbar spine, knees and pulmonary system and consisting of GERD, constipation and diabetes arising out of and in the course of his employment by Nowell Steel and Supply Company, Inc., as a material handler during periods ending August 16, 2012, and April 26, 2013. The WCJ also found that applicant's injuries caused temporary disability for the periods August 16, 2012, through April 4, 2013, and June 13, 2013, through April 16, 2014, permanent partial disability of 79% and need of further medical treatment. The WCJ made a joint award of benefits against both Zurich and ICW and ordered Zurich to pay and administer benefits.
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About this page
- A published decision of the California Workers' Compensation Appeals Board, taken apart by what it turned on. The Board publishes the decision itself; this page adds the extraction and quotes the passage behind every claim.
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