County of Los Angeles v. Workers' Compensation Appeals Board

This is a writ of review from an order of the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board (WCAB) and a denial of a petition for reconsideration. The order is that the county is liable for the value for services rendered Zachary Rottman (Rottman) by Kaiser Foundation Hospital (Kaiser).

The facts are that Rottman was an employee of Los Angeles County (County). On September 27, 1977, Rottman filed an application for adjudication of claim, alleging industrial injury to his heart due to stress during the period of his employment with the County. Kaiser then filed a lien for the self-procured medical treatment it provided. Rottman’s claim was approved as settled by way of a compromise and release agreement except for the self-procured treatment provided by Kaiser. A hearing was held on the claimed liability of the County for the Kaiser lien. An award for the full amount of the lien was ordered. The Kaiser treatments covered the period from August 16, 1968, to September 5, 1978. One issue raised by the County, in addition to the denial that the injury had been work related, was that any claim for treatment given more than one year before the filing of the claim was barred by Labor Code…