Beckstead
Beckstead v. Workers' Comp. Appeals Bd.
Opinion
Opinion
Armstrong, J.
Kenneth Beckstead has petitioned for review of a Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board (WCAB) ruling that he did not sustain an injury arising out of and occurring in the course of employment. We order the ruling vacated.
Factual and Procedural Summary
In 1981, Beckstead was hired by Performance Automotive Warehouse (Performance) as a sales associate. The job required Beckstead to answer telephone calls and record the information he received, using both handwriting and a computer. Beckstead was working in that capacity on August 8, 1994, when he filed an employee’s claim for workers’ compensation benefits. The claim form included blank lines in which the claimant was to give specified information. Beckstead reported that the injury occurred on August 8, 1994, at 9 a.m. Next to “describe injury and part of body affected” he wrote “left wrist.” Beckstead was unrepresented at that time.
At the WCAB hearing, Beckstead testified that he filed the claim after experiencing wrist pain on August 3 or August 5, 1994, and being told by a supervisor that he should see a doctor. On August 8, a doctor told Beckstead that he had carpal tunnel syndrome and should not work. A Performance…