Aguilar, Enrique

Enrique Aguilar, a dispatcher for California Bio-Productex, was injured on November 18, 2016, when a nonfunctioning electric forklift he was riding atop during a towing operation tipped over, throwing him to the ground; a second towing forklift with unreliable brakes also struck him. The WCJ found the injury resulted from the employer's serious and willful misconduct and awarded increased benefits. Defendant sought reconsideration, arguing the evidence did not establish the employer's actual knowledge of the probable consequences of the unsafe conditions and that the WCJ's factual findings about the forklifts' condition were unsupported. The Appeals Board denied reconsideration, holding that the employer knew of the dangerous condition (forklifts with nonfunctional/intermittently functional brakes and steering), knew injury was a probable consequence, and deliberately failed to take corrective action. The Board gave great weight to the WCJ's credibility determinations and found no contrary evidence of considerable substantiality.