Adney, Joey (Dec.)

Joey Adney died on May 22, 2021 from heart failure with cardiomyopathy, with an underlying cumulative trauma claim involving an injurious exposure period ending May 3, 2012. The WCJ found the death industrial and that the dependents' death benefit claim was not barred by Labor Code section 5406(b) because the date of injury under section 5412 was the date of death. Defendant sought reconsideration, arguing the death was not industrial and that the date of injury was more than 240 weeks before death. The WCAB denied reconsideration, reasoning that the date of injury under section 5412 depends on the dependents' knowledge of industrial causation, and defendant's own denial letter stated there was no medical documentation linking the death to employment—undercutting any earlier date of injury. The Board affirmed the WCJ's findings.