State Compensation Insurance Fund v. Workers' Compensation Appeals Board

The State Compensation Insurance Fund (State Fund) petitions for review (Labor Code, § 5952) of the decision after reconsideration of the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board (Board) affirming an award to respondent, Jose C. Echeverría. State Fund contends that the award was improperly calculated using the 1997 schedule for rating permanent disabilities (PD schedule) in effect prior to January 1, 2005, rather than the new PD schedule that went into effect on that date. As will be seen, we agree and annul the award.

Section 4660 governs the calculation of permanent disability awards. As amended effective April 19, 2004, the section requires regular revisions in the rating schedule and, as relevant here, provides generally that “[t]he schedule and any amendment thereto or revision thereof shall apply prospectively and shall apply to and govern only those permanent disabilities that result from compensable injuries received or occurring on and after the effective date of the adoption of the schedule ....’’ (§ 4660, subd. (d).) But the section also provides that for “compensable claims arising before January 1, 2005,” the new schedule “shall apply to the determination of…