Consani

This case presents a question on which courts of appeal have divided in interpreting the penalty provisions of Labor Code section 5814 after the Supreme Court’s decision in Gallamore v. Workers’ Comp. Appeals Bd. (1979) 23 Cal.3d 815 [ 153 Cal.Rptr. 590 , 591 P.2d 1242 ].

We will hold, in annulling and remanding the decision of the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board (Board), that the “entire amount” of a particular class of workers’ compensation benefits, on which the 10 percent penalty provided by section 5814 is calculated, includes all nondelayed voluntary payments of such class of benefits which are made by an employer before issuance of an award.

I. Facts and Procedural History

Between October 23, 1985, and October 12, 1987, Armando Consani filed five workers’ compensation claims for back injuries sustained while em ployed as an investigator for Safeway Stores. In February 1987, he underwent lumbar surgery which consisted of a two-level fusion at L4-5 and L5-Sl. In November 1987, Consani’s treating physician, Charles Barnes, M.D., reported that X-rays showed a solid fusion at L4-5 but not at L5-S1. Dr. Barnes’s report stated: “The low back remains a problem. He…