Stuart Braham — ADJ21055490

Applicant Stuart Braham filed a Petition for Reconsideration and request to set aside/amend a Compromise and Release (C&R) and the Order Approving C&R issued by the WCJ on July 14, 2026. He contended that the C&R erroneously included body parts (his back and parts of his leg) that were not industrially injured, and that this would detrimentally impact his Medicare benefits, as only his left femur was the actual industrial injury. The Board noted that QME Dr. Nazari's reporting did not support any back injury though the back was listed as a settled body part, and that the OACR issued without a hearing, leaving no complete record to review the parties' understanding or the Medicare impact. Applying its recent en banc decision in Gaines v. ABM Aviation regarding adequacy review and protection of public interest, the Board dismissed the Petition as premature and returned the matter to the trial level so the WCJ could consider the request to set aside/amend the C&R and develop a complete record. The Board also confirmed it timely acted under the amended Labor Code section 5909.