WCAB

Department of Corrections & Rehabilition v. Workers' Compensation Appeals Board

Good Law

189 Cal. Rptr. 3d 856·2015 Cal. App. LEXIS 638·238 Cal. App. 4th 1131·80 Cal. Comp. Cases 631

Court of Appeal of CaliforniaJuly 22, 2015C078345California1,948 words

Opinion

Butz, J.

The Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board (WCAB) issued an opinion after the grant of a motion for reconsideration of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (Department). The WCAB opinion upheld the finding of its hearing officer that there was an industrial cause for the death of Gregory Thompson (decedent), and the award of a workers’ compensation death benefit to Svetlana Thompson (widow). The Department sought a writ of review challenging the failure of the WCAB to address its claim that the hearing officer failed to adjudicate the widow’s petition to determine her entitlement to special death benefits under the Public Employees’ Retirement System (PERS). (Gov. Code, §§ 21537, 21541.j We issued the writ, and after plenary review will annul the WCAB’s decision. (Lab. Code, §§ 5950, 5952.)

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

The Department does not contest the finding that the death of Gregory Thompson was causally related to the industrial injury. As a result, we do not need to provide more than a brief sketch of the underlying substantive facts.

In February 2011, the 51-year-old decedent was working at High Desert State Prison in Susanville as a guard. An…

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