GILBERT LOPEZ, Applicant vs. HARTNELL PACKING, INC.; CLARENDON NATIONAL INSURANCE COMPANY; LIBERTY MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY; WAUSAU UNDERWRITERS INSURANCE COMPANY; CALIFORNIA INSURANCE GUARANTEE ASSOCIATION (CIGA), by TRISTAR RISK MANAGEMENT, INC., for CAL COMP, in liquidation; STATE COMPENSATION INSURANCE FUND (SCIF); CALIFORNIA INDEMNITY INSURANCE COMPANY; and SUBSEQUENT INJURIES BENEFITS TRUST FUND, Defendants
ADJ number
ADJ3543979
Decision date
Mar 17, 2021
District office
Salinas
WCJ
Stuart R. Crymes
Claim administrator
Liberty Mutual Insurance Company (for Wausau Underwriters Insurance Company)
Applicant Gilbert Lopez, a dock supervisor for Hartnell Packing, sustained five industrial injuries (two specific and three cumulative trauma) to his bilateral shoulders, back, psyche, heart/cardiovascular, sleep, and internal systems between 1996 and 2005. The WCJ found applicant permanently totally disabled and issued a single joint award of 100% permanent disability, ordered paid by Liberty Mutual subject to its right to reimbursement/contribution, because defendants failed to submit substantial medical evidence to apportion disability among the five dates of injury. Defendant Hartnell Packing/Wausau-Liberty Mutual sought reconsideration, arguing the injuries should receive separate apportioned awards under Labor Code sections 5412, 5500.5, and 4664, and that any single award should be based on the 84% DEU rating rather than the vocational expert's 100% finding. The WCAB adopted and incorporated the WCJ's Report and denied reconsideration, finding the psychiatric AME (Dr. Segal) and internal PQME (Dr. Levy) failed to provide substantial evidence to parcel out disability among the dates of injury, and that the vocational expert (Scott Simon) properly accounted for applicant's industrially-caused retirement.
Issues
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The panel considered the record, the applicable statutes, and the arguments of the parties.
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Holding
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The panel considered the record, the applicable statutes, and the arguments of the parties.
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Analysis
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The panel considered the record, the applicable statutes, and the arguments of the parties.
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Applicant takeaway
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The panel considered the record, the applicable statutes, and the arguments of the parties.
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Defense takeaway
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The panel considered the record, the applicable statutes, and the arguments of the parties.
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Provider takeaway
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The panel considered the record, the applicable statutes, and the arguments of the parties.
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Similar decisions
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The panel considered the record, the applicable statutes, and the arguments of the parties.
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The panel considered the record, the applicable statutes, and the arguments of the parties.
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The panel considered the record, the applicable statutes, and the arguments of the parties.
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The panel considered the record, the applicable statutes, and the arguments of the parties.
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The panel considered the record, the applicable statutes, and the arguments of the parties.
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The panel considered the record, the applicable statutes, and the arguments of the parties.
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The panel considered the record, the applicable statutes, and the arguments of the parties.
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The panel considered the record, the applicable statutes, and the arguments of the parties.
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