Wilson Kris

In this en banc decision, defendant State of California Cal Fire (legally uninsured, adjusted by State Compensation Insurance Fund) sought reconsideration of the Appeals Board's prior en banc Opinion of May 10, 2019, which found that applicant Kris Wilson sustained a catastrophic injury under Labor Code section 4660.1(c)(2)(B), permitting an increased psychiatric impairment rating. Defendant did not dispute the catastrophic finding itself but argued that 'catastrophic injury' refers to the mechanism of injury and the worker's condition immediately after the injury, and that the five non-exhaustive factors outlined by the Board constituted improper rulemaking exceeding the Board's authority. The Board rejected both contentions, holding the statute contains no temporal restriction and that the five factors provide a permissible analytical framework rather than a rule or regulation. The Board denied reconsideration, reaffirming that whether an injury is catastrophic focuses on the nature of the injury and is a fact-driven inquiry.