Mt. Diablo Unified School District v. Workers' Compensation Appeals Board

We granted a petition for review filed by Mt. Diablo Unified School District (Mt. Diablo) to decide whether temporary disability payments commence when a school district pays an injured employee his or her normal wages under Education Code section 44043. Given that section 44043 payments are, in part, temporary disability benefits under the workers’ compensation laws, the answer is yes. We therefore annul the decision of the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board (WCAB) and remand the matter for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

BACKGROUND

Mt. Diablo employed Nicole Rollick as a special education assistant. In June 2004, she sustained an injury to “her right lower extremity, back, and spine, excluding the neck.” Although Mt. Diablo initially disputed industrial causation for part of Rollick’s injury, the parties eventually resolved that dispute by stipulation in January 2007. Mt. Diablo conceded Rollick’s injuries arose in the course of her employment and it agreed to make payments for periods of temporary disability up to the date of the stipulation and continuing.

In February 2007, however, Mt. Diablo asked the WCAB for an order terminating further…