Kopping v. Workers' Compensation Appeals Board

Opinion

ROBIE, Acting P. J.

The question here is whether the presumption established by subdivision (b) of Labor Code 1 section 4664 (section 4664(b)) is conclusive or rebuttable. That statute, which is one of the workers’ compensation statutes enacted in 2004 to govern apportionment of permanent disability (Stats. 2004, ch. 34, § 35), 2 provides that “[i]f the applicant has received a prior award of permanent disability, it shall be conclusively presumed that the prior permanent disability exists at the time of any subsequent industrial injury. This presumption is a presumption affecting the…