Cole, Jodi

Jodi Cole, a former police officer and criminal investigator for the County of Santa Clara, retired in 2012 with an Industrial Disability Retirement through CalPERS following a cumulative trauma claim. The parties stipulated to 46% permanent disability from the cumulative trauma and 100% total permanent disability from the combination of preexisting and subsequent conditions, qualifying her for SIBTF benefits. The WCJ granted SIBTF a credit under Labor Code section 4753 against the CalPERS industrial disability retirement payments, but limited that credit to only the amount equal to the tax exemption/savings applicant received under IRC section 104(a)(1). SIBTF petitioned for reconsideration, arguing it is entitled to credit for the entire amount of the CalPERS payments and that the credit should be framed in terms of the percentage of applicant's preexisting disability. The Appeals Board granted reconsideration to further study whether the CalPERS payments were attributable to applicant's preexisting disability, deferred issuance of a final decision, and encouraged the parties to participate in mediation.