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County of San Bernardino v. Workers' Compensation Appeals Board11/22/2005
Petitioner County of San Bernardino (County), as the affected employer, seeks review and annulment of an order of the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board (Board) affirming the award in favor of applicant Ivett Andrews (applicant) finding that she did sustain injuries arising out of and occurring in the course of her employment to her back, legs, and diabetes. County contends that substantial evidence does not support the finding of industrially caused diabetes, back injury, or the award of temporary total disability. We agree that substantial evidence does not support the finding that diabetes was industrially caused. Accordingly, we annul the order.
FACTS
Applicant worked for County from June 1989 to March 2000. She worked in the probation department with juvenile wards as a group counselor and as a probation corrections officer.
In February 2000 applicant filed a claim alleging continuous trauma injuries to her "back, bilateral lower extremities, neck, diabetes." She later added a claim for hypertension.
The workers' compensation judge (WCJ) concluded that applicant's hypertension was not the result of job stress. He commented that her testimony of stress in the last two years was not credible. He did find that the diabetes and the orthopedic injuries were job-related.
With respect to the orthopedic injuries, applicant maintained that she never had any back problems prior to her employment with County. County produced evidence showing quite the contrary-her records from Kaiser showed she had an eight-year history of ongoing chronic back pain prior to being hired by County in June 1989. The WCJ noted that applicant's testimony about her prior symptoms was not credible. However, based on the evidence he found that her current problems were job-related and apportioned 33 1/3 percent to a pre-existing injury.
With respect to the diabetes, the WCJ found it was industrial based on Dr. Lineback's report that diabetes can also be related to stress. However he did not agree that stress of her job created the diabetes but that an injection of epinephrine for her back pain created the diabetes, noting that applicant went into a diabetic coma 10 days after receiving the second epidural injection.
In April 2003 the Board granted County's petition for reconsideration and remanded the matter for further development of the medical record regarding the issue of industrial causation of applicant's orthopedic injuries and diabetes.
The WCJ came to the same decision with the exception he apportioned 50 percent to pre-existing back problems. This time the Board denied County's petition for reconsideration.
DISCUSSION
In challenging the Board's order, County contends that: (1) the finding that applicant lacked credibility should have resulted in a take-nothing order; (2) there was no substantial medical evidence to support the finding of an industrial back injury; (3) there was no substantial medical evidence to support the award of temporary total disability; and (4) there was no substantial medical evidence to support the finding of industrial diabetes.
Although the WCJ found applicant was less than credible in her deposition testimony when she denied prior back and leg problems, he found that she was credible during trial. The appellate courts have proclaimed that the factfinding referees are in the best position to evaluate credibility and that their findings are entitled to great weight. (Garza v. Workmen's Comp. App. Bd. (1970) 3 Cal.3d 312.) Here, we have no basis to overturn the award based on the WCJ's assessment of applicant's credibility, there being nothing inher
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