Kaminski

This is a proceeding to review a decision of the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board pertaining to the imposition of the statutory 10 percent penalty for unreasonable delay or refusal to pay compensation benefits awarded to an applicant.

Applicant applied for workers’ compensation benefits for an injury (emotional trauma) arising out of and in the course of his employment as a security and safety manager for Montgomery Ward & Co., Inc., permissibly self-insured. On December 19, 1978, the workers’ compensation judge made a minimal award of 5 percent permanent disability which called for a payment of $1,050 forthwith. The applicant’s petition for reconsideration was granted and the board ordered the appointment of an independent medical examiner.

Following an examination by the independent medical examiner, submission of his report, and his examination and cross-examination, the matter was placed on the Commissioner’s Conference Calendar and a new opinion and decision after reconsideration was issued. The board found that applicant had sustained an industrial injury which caused a 32 percent permanent partial disability and awarded permanent disability benefits of…