Harrison

In this proceeding, petitioner, an injured employee, seeks review of an opinion and order denying reconsideration issued by the Workmen’s Compensation Appeals Board. The question presented is whether the board erred in giving retrospective effect to a 1973 amendment to section 5500.5 of the Labor Code.

At the time petitioner sustained his injury, section 5500.5 provided, in pertinent part, that “Where a claim for compensation benefits is made on account of an occupational disease which may have arisen out of more than one employment, the application shall state the names and addresses of all employers, the places of employment, and the approximate periods of employment where the employee was exposed to the hazards of the occupational disease. ...” (Italics added.) The section further provided that “In any case involving a claim of occupational disease contracted as a result of more than one employment, the employee making the claim, or his dependents, may elect to proceed against any one or more of the employers named in the application. Where such an election is made, the employee must successfully prove his claim against any one of the employers named, and any award…