Calif. Appeals Court Declines to Review Workers’ Comp Decision

Fifth District Court of Appeal in California has refused to review the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board’s (WCAB) en banc decision in State Compensation Insurance Fund (SCIF) v. WCAB (Almaraz).

This means that the Sixth District Court’s decision on the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board’s en banc decision in Joyce Guzman v. Milpitas Unified School District stands. In that case, the WCAB determined that “when determining an injured employee’s whole person impairment, it is not permissible to go outside the four corners of the AMA Guides; however, a physician may utilize any chapter, table, or method in the AMA Guides that most accurately reflects the injured employee’s impairment.”

WCAB’s en banc decisions, made in 2009 have been faulted for increasing costs in the state’s workers’ compensation system.

Topics California Workers' Compensation