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The WCAB rescinded the April 23, 2021 Findings and Award and Order and remanded the matter to the WCJ to consider the Compromise and Release and conduct further proceedings as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.