Pursuant to Labor Code §4850, first responders and public safety officers in California are entitled to up to 1 year (52 weeks) of their full salary when injured on the job and placed on temporary disability. If he/she is still disabled when the year is up, he/she can continue to receive up to an additional 1 year (52 weeks of temporary disability benefits. 

The Agaiby v. City of Culver City, 2024 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS 382 (Appeals Board noteworthy panel decision), the issue of whether applicant, who sustained two separate and distinct injuries, was entitled to separate full-year benefits pursuant to Labor Code §4850 for each injury, despite overlapping periods of temporary disability. 

Officer Agaiby sustained a specific injury on August 5, 2020, during an exercise workout in the course of his employment. Injury was alleged to the neck, back, bilateral shoulders and bilateral knees. He was temporarily disabled for a couple of weeks and then returned to modified duties performing desk work. He was taken off work on February 9, 2021; applicant did not return to work. He underwent surgery on his left shoulder on November 11, 2021. The PQME deemed him maximally medically improved for this injury on February 7, 2023. 

Officer Agaiby filed a second claim for a cumulative trauma for the period May 1, 1994, to February 8, 2021, for bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome. The AME concluded that the bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome was not due to the specific injury on August 5, 2020, but the result of the cumulative trauma through February 8, 2021, and applicant was temporarily totally disabled beginning February 9, 2021. Applicant was deemed maximally medically improved on February 16, 2023. 

The WCJ found that applicant was entitled to a full year of Labor Code §4850 benefits for the specific injury of August 5, 2020, and a second full year of Labor Code §4850 benefits for the cumulative trauma injury through February 8, 2021, notwithstanding the fact that the periods of applicant’s temporary disability partially overlapped. Defendant sought reconsideration. 

Defendant asserted that benefits paid under Labor Code §4850 should be credited to both dates where the temporary disability periods overlap, and that applicant was not entitled to separate Labor Code §4850 benefits in each injury when the temporary disability benefits overlap. 

The crux of the case requires the resolution of the scope of Labor Code §4850 and how it interacts with the payment of temporary disability benefits. There is currently a split of authority on this issue and the Supreme Court has accepted review on a related issue regarding the definition of Labor Code §4850 benefits.

To ensure uniformity of decisions, the Appeals Board granted defendant’s petition for reconsideration to study the issue of the application of Labor Code §4850 where an applicant sustains two injuries and periods of eligibility for Labor Code §4850 benefits overlap. The Appeals Board has deferred the final decision on reconsideration, pending further review of the merits of the petition and further consideration of the entire record considering the applicable statutory and decisional law.

The Appeals Board really did not provide an indication as to how they may decide this issue; but the case highlights the ongoing debate about the interpretation and application of Labor Code section 4850 for public safety officers with multiple work-related injuries. The eventual final decision could have significant implications for how these benefits are calculated and applied in similar cases.