Chevron U.S.A., Inc. v. Workers' Compensation Appeals Board

In this case we hold that where two separate and distinct occupational disease processes resulting from a single period of exposure to asbestos manifest themselves at different times, each is entitled to a different date of injury, consistent with Labor Code section 5412, for purposes of calculating the applicable rate of statutory death benefits payable under section 4702.

Petitioner Chevron U.S.A., Inc. (hereafter Chevron), seeks review of an order, denying reconsideration, from the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board (hereafter Board) which adopted the report of the workers’ compensation judge (hereafter WCJ), holding (1) that the death of Harvey Steele (hereafter Steele) was the result of mesothelioma, a separate and distinct pathology from asbestosis, and (2) that Steele first manifested disability on August 12, 1987, the proper date of injury for purposes of calculating the statutory death benefit. Because the mesothelioma resulted from the same period of exposure to asbestos which previously caused Steele to suffer from asbestosis, Chevron contends that the same date of injury, September 28, 1976, should apply for purposes of calculating the death…