WCAB En Banc Ruling Brings Clarity to Murky Issue of Catastrophic Injuries

The Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board clarified a muddied definition of what constitutes a catastrophic injury, a decision practitioners say could make it easier for California workers to receive comp benefits for psychiatric disorders. Deciding whether a person suffered a catastrophic injury depends on a host of factors including the gravity of the worker’s condition, and not just the circumstances of the industrial accident itself, the WCAB said in the en banc decision Kris Wilson v. California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. Louis Larres, a work comp defense ...