Villa, Margie

Applicant Margie Villa, a licensed caregiver, claimed a specific industrial injury on September 14, 2011 while working for Paul Normandin (insured by Liberty Mutual under a homeowner's policy) and IHCC, an uninsured company that matched caregivers with home health care clients. The WCJ initially found employment only with Normandin and an independent contractor relationship with IHCC, but later amended to find joint employment. On reconsideration, the Board first addressed a timeliness/jurisdictional issue, holding that its time to act on the petitions was equitably tolled under Shipley because the case file was not received until June 21, 2021 through no fault of the parties. On the merits, the Board found the WCJ erred in applying the ABC/Dynamex test rather than Borello, but the error was harmless because IHCC failed to rebut the statutory presumption of employment under Labor Code section 3357. The Board rescinded the F&O and substituted a finding that both Normandin and IHCC employed applicant, deferring the determination of general versus special employer to the trial level.