Pascoe

Petitioner seeks review and annulment of portions of the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board’s decision reducing temporary total disability benefits awarded her by the referee and setting aside a penalty which the referee had assessed against the employer’s insurer. The issues raised by the petition are: (1) The proper method of determining average weekly earnings for the purpose of computing benefits; (2) the sufficiency of the evidence as to the terms of petitioner’s employment; and (3) the propriety of the penalty assessed against respondent- insurer for unreasonably refusing to pay more than the minimum benefits.

Petitioner applied for an adjudication of her worker’s compensation claim against respondents Alta Vista Convalescent Hospital and its insurer, Argonaut Insurance Company. The testimony of the only two witnesses who testified at the referee’s hearing, petitioner and Judy Gileno (nee Busick), may be summarized as follows:

Petitioner completed her nursing studies and, having passed a state examination, was licensed as a registered nurse in August of 1970. Except for a short period in 1971, when she worked as a registered nurse at $5 per hour, her injury has…