Jack Rieger — ADJ11670075

Applicant Jack Rieger, a Production Assistant, fell from a fifth-floor stairwell at Fox Sports 1, sustaining catastrophic injuries leaving him unable to communicate. The defendant denied the claim, arguing the injury was outside the course of employment and barred by the self-inflicted injury exclusion (section 3600(a)(5)) and suicide exclusion (section 3600(a)(6)), and filed petitions seeking the WCJ's disqualification for bias and reconsideration of the Award. The WCAB affirmed the WCJ's Findings of Fact and Award, holding that applicant met his burden of proving a compensable industrial injury and that defendant failed to prove any statutory exclusion or a fundamental departure from employment. The Board dismissed the disqualification requests as procedurally defective while noting they would fail on the merits, and rejected defendant's jurisdictional, evidentiary, and substantial evidence arguments.