San Francisco Unified School District v. Workers' Compensation Appeals Board

Opinion

SIMONS, J.

Labor Code section 3208.31 provides that a psychiatric injury is compensable only if certain conditions are satisfied. Section 3208.3, subdivision (h) (section 3208.3(h)) provides, in part, that no compensation shall be paid for a psychiatric injury “if the injury was substantially caused by a lawful, nondiscriminatory, good faith personnel action.” Section 3208.3, subdivision (b)(3)2 defines “ ‘substantial cause’ ” to mean “at least 35 to 40 percent of the causation from all sources combined.”

In this case, the workers’ compensation administrative law judge (ALJ) concluded…