Burton v. Workers' Comp. Appeals Bd

In Burton v. Workers' Comp. Appeals Bd. (1980) 112 Cal.App.3d 85, the court held that an award of increased workers' compensation benefits under section 132a is itself a separate class of benefits and that any section 5814 penalty should be computed by assessing 10 percent of the entire section 132a increase rather than just the portion of the 132a increase not paid. Burton partially based its determination upon the fact that section 4553 specifies an increase in "compensation otherwise recoverable" rather than particular classes of benefits. ( Burton v. Workers' Comp. Appeals Bd., supra, 112 Cal.App.3d at p. 91.)