Royal Globe Insurance v. Workers' Compensation Appeals Board

*289 Opinion

We issued a writ of review to consider whether the respondent Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board erred in denying reconsideration to petitioner Royal Globe Insurance Co., workers’ compensation carrier for Frank Fosdick (doing business as Ranchers Irrigation), respondent James Faulkner’s employer. Reconsideration was sought on the ground that Royal Globe had “. . . discovered new evidence, material to [it] . . . , which [it] . . . could not with reasonable diligence have discovered and produced at the hearing.” The award was based upon Faulkner’s claim that on April 6, 1977, in the course and scope of his employment he had injured his back while lifting a valve gate out of an irrigation ditch.

Scope of employment was seriously contested at the hearing on November 22, 1977, and in response to Faulkner’s testimony on the subject (by deposition, infra), Royal Globe offered several witnesses. (1) Robert Morrison, Fosdick’s former foreman (he had changed employers one week before the hearing), testified that in April 1977 Faulkner was off work for about a half month, returned for “a couple of days,” then left permanently. Although in prior months Faulkner had complained…