Martha Castro — ADJ12525278

The WCAB denied defendant's petition for reconsideration of a WCJ's finding that applicant Martha Castro's termination from Walmart was not in good faith. Applicant had sustained an accepted injury to her back and left knee on July 7, 2018, and was terminated on August 11, 2019, following an incident with a customer on June 26, 2019. The Board found that defendant failed to meet its burden of proving good cause for termination, as the employer's witness had no firsthand knowledge of the termination, no company policy was entered into evidence, and there was no substantial evidence of applicant's alleged prior misconduct. The Board affirmed the WCJ's credibility determination favoring applicant's testimony and rejected defendant's argument that the good cause issue was premature before establishing temporary disability entitlement.