Lechuga, Celestino

Celestino Lechuga, a 39-year-old carpenter, sustained an accepted injury to his right upper extremity from a fall on 9/21/15. The sole disputed issue was the calculation of his average weekly wage. Lechuga claimed that, pursuant to an agreement with company supervisor Benjamin Rodriguez Sr., his piecework earnings were split into two checks—one made payable to himself and one to his nephew Carlos Lechuga—to conceal that Lechuga earned more than his foreman, and that he reported Carlos's earnings as his own on his taxes. The WCJ ultimately determined that Carlos's reported earnings were actually Lechuga's, set the average weekly wage at $1,055.89 using 2014-2015 payment calculation sheets plus the 2015 tax return divided over 46 actual weeks worked, and the WCAB denied defendant's Petition for Reconsideration, adopting the WCJ's report.