SAN FRANCISCO—California’s 1st District Court of Appeal has reversed a decision in an ongoing and controversial workers compensation case in California.

The appellate court on Friday reversed the decision of the California Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board in the case of Ogilvie vs. WCAB, sending the case back to the appeals board for further review of evidence.

The court’s reversal is the latest twist in the Ogilvie case, which dates back to February 2009, when the WCAB decided that the method for adjusting workers compensation awards to reflect diminished future capacity could be challenged.

Cases combined in 2009

Wanda Ogilvie vs. City and County of San Francisco was combined with Mario Almaraz vs. Environmental Recovery Services and Joyce Guzman vs. Milpitas Unified School District in 2009, with the WCAB ruling that rating permanent disabilities can be rebutted with certain evidence.

The WCAB’s decision caused unrest within California’s workers comp system, with employers and insurers stating the decision would create significant cost increases, up to $800 million in additional costs by some estimates.

The 1st District Court of Appeals ruled that an injured worker can dispute his or her scheduled disability rating based on two methods of rebuttal, and added a third provided that the worker “can demonstrate the nature or severity of the claimant’s injury is not captured within the sampling of disabled workers that was used to compute the adjustment factor,” Judge Peter J. Siggins wrote in the decision.

The two traditional methods of rebuttal include the injured worker showing factual error in the application of the diminished future earning capacity table, and demonstrating that the injury impairs the worker’s rehabilitation process and makes diminished future earning capacity greater than what is reflected in the scheduled rating.

Judge’s decision

“Because we cannot conclude on this record whether Ogilvie effectively rebutted application of the rating schedule, we reverse the decision of the Workers Compensation Board of Appeals, annul the award benefits to Ogilvie, and remand further proceedings consistent with our opinion,” Judge Siggins wrote.

Messages left with Ms. Ogilvie’s attorney, Joseph C. Waxman, seeking comment were not immediately returned.