WCAB
County of San Luis Obispo v. Workers' Compensation Appeals Board
Opinion
Opinion
Coffee, J.
Petitioner County of San Luis Obispo (County) seeks review of an order of the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board (WCAB) awarding respondent Russell Barnes a 10 percent penalty under Labor Code section 5814 on all medical benefits, past, present and future, for a single instance of delay in paying a previously assessed penalty of $97.87. The County has been paying medical benefits to Barnes for more than 25 years and continues to do so. At the time this petition was filed, the County had paid medical expenses on Barnes’s behalf exceeding $650,000. The County contends that a penalty in excess of $65,000 for an inadvertent delay in paying a $97.87 penalty constitutes harsh and unfair treatment not intended by the Workers’ Compensation Act. We agree and shall reverse.
Facts
Barnes was injured in 1973 while working for the County. In 1981, the WCAB awarded him 100 percent permanent disability and future medical care.
In 1991, Barnes sought multiple penalties for the County’s alleged delays in providing and paying for certain medical benefits in the previous 10 years. The WCAB awarded Barnes a single 10 percent penalty under section 5814 on all medical benefits, past,…