Warren Brower

In this en banc decision, the WCAB addressed the timing of permanent disability indemnity payments and cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) for an ironworker foreman who sustained a December 20, 2005 industrial injury to his low back, psyche, and right knee, and was found 100% permanently totally disabled. The dispute centered on whether permanent total disability indemnity should commence December 21, 2007 (the day after temporary disability indemnity terminated under the 104-week cap of section 4656(c)) or October 6, 2011 (the permanent and stationary date used by the WCJ), and when COLAs under section 4659(c) begin. The Board held that when temporary disability terminates under section 4656(c) before P&S status, the defendant must commence permanent disability based on a reasonable estimate, and that upon a finding of permanent total disability, indemnity is retroactive to the date the temporary disability obligation ended. The Board further held COLAs begin on the January 1 after the worker becomes entitled to permanent disability indemnity under section 4650(b)(1) or (b)(2), regardless of when payments actually began. The Board affirmed the finding of 100% permanent total disability and the $600 medical-legal reimbursement for the treating physician's report, allowing defendant a credit for prior overpayments.