Mayor, Joseph

Applicant Joseph Mayor, a maintenance worker, sustained industrial injury on December 9, 2013 to his cervical spine, thoracic spine, and right shoulder, with claimed injuries to his right knee and cervicogenic headaches. The WCJ found applicant permanently and totally disabled, relying on vocational expert Jeff Malmuth's reporting that rebutted the scheduled 53 percent rating by establishing non-feasibility for vocational retraining. Defendant sought reconsideration, arguing the vocational expert's conclusions were unsubstantiated, the apportionment identified by QME Dr. Ryan was not adequately addressed, and that vocational reporting is inadmissible under Labor Code section 4660.1(a). The Board found that no Report and Recommendation was prepared by the WCJ (who was unavailable) or the Presiding WCJ, and that the Opinion on Decision failed to adequately explain the basis for several findings, including the interaction of medical apportionment with vocational non-feasibility and omitted findings on the claimed body parts. The Board rescinded the F&A and returned the matter to the trial level for further proceedings.