Steven Garcia — ADJ8854627

Applicant Steven Garcia, a professional baseball player, claimed cumulative trauma injury to multiple body parts arising from his 2005-2012 career, with his last day of injurious exposure on June 8, 2012 while playing for the SCIF-insured Long Beach Armada. The WCJ fixed the Labor Code section 5412 date of injury at March 23, 2013, the date Garcia first met with his attorney and obtained imputed knowledge of industrial causation, placing the section 5500.5 liability period within SCIF's coverage. SCIF petitioned for reconsideration, arguing knowledge should have been imputed in 2007 or 2008 when applicant suffered elbow and throwing-arm injuries that began the 'downfall' of his career, which would shift liability to a prior team. The Board denied reconsideration, adopting the WCJ's report which found applicant lacked the training/background to recognize industrial causation and received no medical advice of cumulative trauma until at least the 2017 QME report. The Board affirmed the March 23, 2013 date of injury and SCIF's liability.