Roxanna Ruiz — ADJ12095988

Roxanna Ruiz, a warehouse worker, suffered a cumulative trauma injury to her low back through April 20, 2018. The WCJ found her entitled to temporary disability from May 18, 2021 through at least August 17, 2021 based on the substantial reporting of her primary treating physician, Dr. Arun Duggal, and deferred all other issues including the EDD lien. Defendant Lowe's (self-insured, administered by Sedgwick) petitioned for reconsideration, arguing Dr. Duggal's reporting was not substantial medical evidence, that an AME should decide the dispute, that the EDD lien should not have been deferred, and that new documents should be considered. The WCAB denied reconsideration, adopting the WCJ's report, giving great weight to the WCJ's credibility determination under Garza, and treating the EDD lien deferral as a non-final interlocutory issue evaluated under the removal standard.