Brand, Barbara

Barbara Brand, a building permit technician for the County of Los Angeles, claimed industrial psychiatric injury (with stomach and headache sequelae) from August 5, 2019 to August 14, 2020 due to an alleged hostile work environment. The WCJ issued a one-sentence Opinion on Decision finding applicant's testimony 'non-credible' and concluding she failed to establish AOE/COE, ordering her to take nothing. The Appeals Board granted reconsideration, holding that the WCJ's terse decision failed to comply with Labor Code section 5313 and the standards in Hamilton because it provided no substantive analysis of the evidence, the QME's multifactorial credibility findings, contemporaneous medical treatment, or the predominant-cause analysis required under section 3208.3(b)(1). The Board rescinded the F&O and returned the matter to the trial level, while denying the request to disqualify the WCJ and admonishing applicant's counsel for mislabeling the petition as one for removal.