Anderson

— Petitioner Lorraine N. Anderson (Anderson) contends that respondent Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board (Board) erred in the method it calculated a 10 percent penalty against respondent State Compensation Insurance Fund (Fund) pursuant to Labor Code section 5814 for Fund’s unreasonable delay in paying prior penalties assessed on a previous permanent disability award and on an award of medical treatment costs. We hold it was erroneous for the Board to levy penalties only against the amounts by which the original awards had been increased, rather than against the principal amounts of the underlying awards, since we do not believe that a penalty is a separate class of benefits.

Anderson was employed as a school payroll account clerk by the Lucia Mar School District for the period covering August 1968 through July 12, 1976. Sometime during this period, Anderson sustained an injury “arising out of and occurring in the course of said employment to her nerves and psyche.” On March 23, 1977, Anderson was awarded the following pertinent benefits: (1) future medical treatment and (2) permanent disability of $11,392.50 payable at the rate of $70 per week. The parties subsequently…