Ramos, Eberardo

Eberardo Ramos, a 33-year-old construction foreman, sustained an admitted industrial injury to his lumbar spine and nervous system on November 30, 2015, when a length of rebar snapped while bending it. The WCJ found 45 percent permanent partial disability based on the QME's scheduled rating and rejected applicant's vocational evidence purporting to establish 100 percent permanent total disability, citing an 'essential inconsistency' between applicant's vocational expert's initial and supplemental reports. Applicant petitioned for reconsideration, arguing the vocational reports of Jeff Malmuth rebutted the 2005 PDRS and established permanent total disability. The Board granted reconsideration, rescinded the F&A, and returned the matter to the trial level for development of the record, noting that the vocational evidence predated the Board's en banc decisions in Nunes I and Nunes II, which clarified the standards for vocational evidence and apportionment. The Board found a final determination of permanent disability and apportionment must be supported by substantial evidence in light of the entire record.