Bazilius, Zachary

Police officer Zachary Bazilius sustained an admitted industrial injury on July 12, 2010 while employed by the City of Torrance, and filed a petition for increased compensation under Labor Code section 4553 alleging serious and willful misconduct by the employer. He separately settled a civil action against the City and a sergeant, but that civil release expressly excluded workers' compensation claims. The WCJ found the City violated section 4553 but concluded the serious and willful claim had been settled in the civil case, leaving the WCAB without jurisdiction to award increased compensation. On reconsideration, the Board held that the WCAB has exclusive jurisdiction over section 4553 claims, that a civil settlement could not as a matter of law settle a workers' compensation claim for increased compensation (especially where the release expressly excluded such claims and was never approved by a WCJ), and deferred the question of whether the conduct actually constituted serious and willful misconduct. The matter was remanded for further proceedings because the WCJ's opinion inadequately developed the section 4553 analysis.