Scott Wiest — ADJ10863577

Applicant Scott Wiest, a plumber for Centinela State Prison, sustained an industrial right ankle sprain on May 19, 2015, which led to altered gait, blistering, and ultimately bilateral below-the-knee amputations along with injuries to the lumbar spine, vascular system, sleep, and psyche. The WCJ found applicant 100% permanently disabled without apportionment, adding (rather than combining) impairments under a Kite analysis and rejecting apportionment to applicant's pre-existing non-industrial diabetes. Defendant petitioned for reconsideration, challenging the addition method, the failure to apportion to diabetes, and the substantial-evidence support for the vascular, sleep, and psyche injuries. The Board adopted and incorporated the WCJ's Report and denied reconsideration, holding that because the permanent disability was rated on orthopedic impairment from the amputations and gait derangement—not on any diabetic impairment—no apportionment was required even though diabetes contributed to the need for the amputations.