Milpitas Unified School District v. Workers' Compensation Appeals Board

In this original proceeding the Milpitas Unified School District (District) challenges a decision of the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board (WCAB or Board) applying Labor Code section 4660 to the disability evaluation of a District employee. The Board ruled that (1) an employee’s impairment may be determined by reference to any applicable portion of the American Medical Association’s Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment (5th ed.) (Guides), and (2) this determination may be used to rebut the rating of permanent disability established by the 2005 Schedule for Rating Permanent Disabilities (PDRS or Schedule). This court granted the District’s petition for review. We conclude that the language of section 4660 permits reliance on the entire Guides, including the instructions on the use of clinical judgment, in deriving an impairment rating in a particular case. We will therefore affirm the Board’s decision.

Background

Joyce Guzman worked for the District as a temporary employee beginning in October 2001 and as a permanent employee, a secretary/clerk, from September 2002 to May 2005. The District was permissibly self-insured for workers’ compensation liability;…