Rocha, Johny

Construction laborer Johny Rocha sustained an accepted injury to his lumbar, cervical, and thoracic spine in March 2019. The WCJ found him permanently and totally disabled based on his vocational expert's opinion that he was not feasible for vocational retraining, and rejected the QME's apportionment opinion as not substantial evidence. Defendant (State Compensation Insurance Fund) petitioned for reconsideration, arguing applicant's vocational expert relied on impermissible nonindustrial factors and that applicant failed to prove non-amenability to retraining. The Board denied reconsideration, adopting the WCJ's report and affirming that defendant failed to meet its burden of proving valid apportionment, entitling applicant to an unapportioned award of permanent total disability.