Ayala, Fernando

Defendant Gardeners' Guild sought reconsideration of a WCJ's Findings of Fact that applicant Fernando Ayala sustained a specific injury AOE/COE to his lumbar spine on February 9, 2021, that the claim was not barred by the post-termination defense or statute of limitations, and that the record required further development regarding parts of body injured and a separate cumulative trauma claim. The Appeals Board treated the petition as a hybrid challenge—applying the reconsideration standard to the threshold AOE/COE finding and the removal standard to the interlocutory development-of-record findings. The Board adopted and incorporated the WCJ's Report, finding substantial medical evidence supported the specific injury and that applicant gave notice through crew leader Yepez to foreman Wilbar, satisfying the Labor Code section 3600(a)(10)(A) exception. Because defendant never provided a DWC-1 claim form despite having notice, it was precluded from asserting a statute of limitations defense. The Board denied reconsideration and removal.