Jeffrey Russell — ADJ12319674

Jeffrey Russell, a battalion chief for the County of Los Angeles, sustained an industrial cumulative trauma injury in the form of colon cancer and was found 100% permanently disabled via Ogilvie/LeBoeuf rebuttal of the scheduled rating. The WCJ applied the lifetime 100% cap under Labor Code section 4664(c)(1)(G), subtracting 34% from prior awards affecting the same 'catch-all' region of the body, resulting in a net award of 66% permanent disability. Applicant petitioned for reconsideration, arguing defendant failed to establish the proper basis for apportionment and overlap, and that a rebuttal-based total disability award should be immune from the lifetime cap. The WCAB granted reconsideration but affirmed the WCJ, holding that defendant adequately established prior awards to the same region of the body via judicial notice and stipulated WPI values, and that the 100% lifetime cap applies regardless of overlap and regardless of whether the disability was established by scheduled rating or rebuttal.