Raheem, Olatunji

Applicant Olatunji Raheem, a union laborer track maintenance worker, claimed a September 30, 2023 left knee injury that the City and County of San Francisco (permissibly self-insured) denied. The WCJ found no injury AOE/COE, concluding that applicant's trial testimony of an immediate 'pop' and onset of pain was incompatible with contemporaneous medical records (which referenced gout and an atraumatic onset) and thus not credible, undermining QME Dr. Retodo's causation opinion. On reconsideration, the Board granted the petition, holding that QME Dr. Retodo's report constituted substantial evidence of industrial causation, that applicant's testimony regarding mechanism was unrebutted by defendant, and that under Garza all reasonable doubts must be resolved in the employee's favor. The Board rescinded the F&O and substituted findings that applicant sustained industrial injury to his left knee with entitlement to medical treatment. The Board also declined to consider applicant's supplemental documentary evidence for failure to comply with WCAB Rules 10964 and 10974.