Calvin Goolsby — ADJ1335458

Applicant Calvin Goolsby, a 67-year-old painter, sustained a 1998 industrial injury and settled his claim by Stipulations with Request for Award of 99¾% PD plus a life pension, with $31,000 in attorney's fees commuted from the far end of the Award. Due to the commutation, PD benefits should have lapsed from 8/27/2013 to 3/25/2016, but defendant inadvertently continued paying PD until 7/7/2014 and then began life pension benefits, creating a $32,750.98 overpayment. Defendant filed a Petition for Credit seeking to recoup the overpayment by pausing applicant's life pension for 217.25 weeks (about 4.18 years). The WCJ denied credit, finding that balancing the equities—applicant's advanced age, over 99% disability, and the fact the error was entirely defendant's fault—a four-year lapse would impose extreme burden and effectively eliminate the life pension. The WCAB adopted the WCJ's report and denied reconsideration.