Hanson, Karen

Karen Hanson, a deputy sheriff who sustained a cumulative trauma injury to her bilateral knees, back, and circulatory system from June 15, 1980 to June 12, 2013, sought reconsideration of a WCJ's finding that her SIBTF application was untimely. The WCJ had treated the date of injury as the last date of injurious exposure (June 12, 2013), making the December 10, 2020 application untimely. The Appeals Board reversed, holding that the date of injury for a cumulative trauma under section 5412 requires both disability and actual/constructive knowledge of industrial causation, which was not established until Dr. Gross's June 6, 2016 report. Because applicant filed within five years of that date, the SIBTF claim was timely. The Board granted reconsideration, amended the findings to establish a June 6, 2016 date of injury, and deferred the attorney's fees issue.