Lopez, Nicolas

Applicant Nicolas Lopez, a vineyard field worker, sustained a serious injury to his left eye on March 15, 2019 when a vine branch struck his eye while he was loading wooden posts onto a trailer, requiring multiple surgeries. The WCJ found the injury was not a 'high-velocity eye injury' under Labor Code section 4656(c)(3)(F), reasoning that applicant was only walking when injured, and denied additional temporary disability beyond the 104-week cap. The WCAB granted reconsideration and rescinded the F&O, finding the WCJ improperly focused on the speed of applicant's walking rather than the velocity of the branch that struck his eye. The Board held the record was insufficiently developed because applicant did not testify about the circumstances and the medical reports did not address whether the injury was 'high-velocity' to a reasonable medical probability. The matter was remanded to the trial level to develop the record on the mechanism of injury and whether the branch struck applicant's eye at high velocity.