Legal Question in Workers Comp in California

How is the date of injury decided in a accumulative trauma ie. Carpel Tunnel

Dec.17th 2004, I was diagnosed by my personal Dr. through my medical insurance which I had due to my employment, with Carpel Tunnel. My employment was terminated on Jan. 15 2005 for reasons unrelated to WC claim which was opened on Jan. 18th 2005. On my 1st notice of injury to employer on Jan 18th, I answered the ''date of injury'' question as ''unknown, accumulative trauma''. Upon bieng contacted by insurance company the next day, he advised that dec. 17th should be my date of injury due to a diagnosis that played absolutely no other part in any of this. Why is this important? I have been receiving the maximum benefits of $728 weekly since Jan. 18th. On Jan 1st 2005 benefit amounts went up to a max of $840 per week. If my math is correct that is over $7000 for a 30 day difference in date of injury. Is there a specific section of the WC regulations that deals with this? Do I have a winable argument at a hearing in front of a judge? I have already won one hearing agianst the insurance company. Hooray! Chalk 1 up for the little guys.


Asked on 2/07/06, 2:02 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Ronald Mahurin Law Offices of Ronald Glenn Mahurin

Labor Code 5412

Labor Code Section 5412, which you can find on the web, controls the date of injury for a cumulative trauma injury. Obviously, the date of injury is important here given the TTD rate. More than likely, you will be forced to litigate the date of injury issue, thus you will probably need representation. However, you can always contact the I&A office and ask.

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Answered on 2/11/06, 12:17 pm


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