Murillo, Hermelinda

Applicant Hermelinda Murillo sustained an accepted specific injury to her right knee and left shoulder on November 30, 2011, for which defendant provided medical treatment but never paid permanent disability or issued required benefit notices. After being terminated in December 2019, applicant filed a claim on February 19, 2020, which the WCJ found barred by the one-year statute of limitations under Labor Code section 5405. On reconsideration, the WCAB rescinded the F&O, holding that the WCJ erroneously analyzed only section 5405(a) while ignoring the tolling provisions of subdivisions (b) and (c) triggered by defendant's voluntary furnishing of medical treatment. The Board further held that defendant was equitably estopped from asserting the statute of limitations because it failed to provide the benefit notices required by Rules 9810 and 9812 (notice of no permanent disability, QME panel rights, denial of liability, and Spanish-language versions) and issued misleading letters that lulled applicant into a false sense of security. The matter was remanded to the trial level for further proceedings, including assignment of an additional adjudication number for the alleged cumulative trauma injury.