Johnathan Looper — ADJ10058585

Applicant Johnathan Looper, a journeyman ironworker, fell approximately thirteen feet from a wooden ladder while carrying a Hilti gun and suffered serious bilateral ankle fractures/dislocations and lumbar injury. After the case-in-chief was resolved by Compromise & Release, applicant pursued a Petition for Serious and Willful Misconduct under Labor Code sections 4553 and 4553.1, alleging the employer's post-injury care (removing/replacing shoes and socks, transporting by private vehicle rather than ambulance) and violations of four safety orders contributed to his injuries. The WCJ found that the employer Schuff Steel had no control over the ladder, the debris, or the on-site medical clinic (all controlled by general contractor DPM/Skanska), that no employee qualified as an executive/managing officer under section 4553, and that no medical evidence established the injury worsened due to the post-injury conduct. The WCAB adopted and incorporated the WCJ's report, gave great weight to the WCJ's credibility determinations under Garza, and denied reconsideration.