Nosce, Nicholas

Applicant Nicholas Nosce, a 27-year-old roofer, sustained a left elbow injury during a physical altercation with a more experienced co-worker, Leonardo Diaz, on the roof of the Butte County Jail on January 31, 2022. Defendant argued the claim was barred under Labor Code section 3600(a)(7) because applicant was the initial physical aggressor and that its due process rights were violated by exclusion of testimony regarding applicant's prior assaults on women. The WCJ found applicant's injury arose out of and in the course of employment and that the initial aggressor defense failed because Diaz, not applicant, threw the first punch, relying heavily on credibility determinations and a contemporaneous police report. The WCAB adopted and incorporated the WCJ's report and denied reconsideration.