Vazquez, Guadalupe

Applicant Guadalupe Vazquez, a housekeeper for Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, claimed she sustained a specific injury on March 14, 2023, when she tripped over screws protruding from a concrete floor and fell. Although her prior counsel amended the application to allege a March 15, 2023 date of injury, the WCJ found that applicant sustained an industrial injury to her lumbar spine, cervical spine, left shoulder, and bilateral knees on March 14, 2023, supported by credible testimony from applicant and her supervisor, the employer's incident report, photographs, and PQME Dr. Laimins' reporting. The WCJ also ordered development of the record on the head/brain injury via a Neurology AME or PQME, and found no cumulative trauma injury. Defendant filed petitions for reconsideration (alleging a due process violation from proceeding to trial on the date of injury) and disqualification (alleging WCJ bias). The Board denied both petitions, finding the petition for reconsideration timely but meritless, and the disqualification petition unsupported by detailed verified facts.