Appeals Board Defers Apportionment Decision, Awaits Supreme Court

The Workers' Compensation Appeals Board has designated the decision in Caryl Erickson v. Southern California Permanente Medical Group/Permanente 9 WCAB Rptr. 10,034 [WCAB Nos. POM246580 and POM246582} as a Significant Panel Decision. In this case the Appeals Board as deferred the issue of the calculation of the amount of the permanent disability indemnity due to an injured worker after apportionment pending issuance of the Supreme Court's decision in Brodie v. Workers' Comp. Appeals Board (2005) 142 Cal.App.4th 685, 8 WCAB Rptr. 10,278 and Welcher v. Workers' Comp. Appeals Bd. (2005) ____Cal.App.4th ____, 143 Cal.App.4th 818, 8 WCAB Rptr. 10,267. This deferral approach is the same as previously employed by the Appeals Board in light of the ongoing conflict and uncertainty in the appellate law on this issue involving multiple injuries and/or apportionment or permanent disability under the new Labor Code §§4663 and 4664.