County of San Luis Obispo v. Workers' Compensation Appeals Board

Opinion

COFFEE, J.

Petitioner County of San Luis Obispo (County) seeks review of an order of the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board (WCAB) awarding respondent Russell Barnes a 10 percent penalty under Labor Code section 5814 1 on all medical benefits, past, present and future, for a single instance of delay in paying a previously assessed penalty of $97.87. The County has been paying medical benefits to Barnes for more than 25 years and continues to do so. At the time this petition was filed, the County had paid medical expenses on Barnes’s behalf exceeding $650,000. The County contends that a…