Vincent Diliberto — ADJ19773230

Vincent Diliberto, a fire engineer for the City of Modesto, suffered a heart injury (atrial fibrillation, left ventricular hypertrophy, mitral valve regurgitation) on May 10, 2024, presumptively compensable under Labor Code section 3212. Defendant denied the claim on July 23, 2024, citing lack of substantial medical evidence, and did not accept the claim until February 2025, nine months after injury and three months after a QME found the conditions compensable. The WCJ assessed a $50,000 penalty under Labor Code section 5814.3 for unreasonable rejection of liability. The Appeals Board denied defendant's Petition for Reconsideration, finding the denial unreasonable given the extensive contemporaneous diagnosis of atrial fibrillation and the anti-attribution clause of section 3212 that barred defendant's stated basis for investigation (prior heart conditions). The Board also upheld the finding that benefits were unreasonably delayed, including defendant's improper conversion of paid 4850 benefits back into applicant's PTO after the denial.