What the panel ordered
The WCAB dismissed defendant's Petition for Reconsideration and denied the Petition for Removal, finding no irreparable harm or substantial prejudice.
Defendant filed a timely Petition for Reconsideration on April 16, 2024, challenging the WCAB's March 25, 2024 decision that granted applicant's Petition for Reconsideration and returned the matter to trial level for further proceedings.
This docket was decided more than once. Shown here is the latest released decision; we also hold March 25, 2024.
What was disputed, and how it came out
Each issue the panel decided, with the reasoning it gave. An outcome is what this panel did on this record — not a rule, and not a prediction.
The WCAB found the defendant's petition was timely filed but the underlying order was not final, so reconsideration was dismissed and removal denied due to no irreparable harm.
From the decision · page 1On April 16, 2024, defendant filed a timely Petition For Reconsideration (Petition) in response to the Opinion and Order Granting Petition for Reconsideration and Decision After Reconsideration (Decision) issued by the Worker's Compensation Appeals Board (WCAB) on March 25, 2024. By the Opinion and Order, the WCAB found that the matter should be returned to the trial level for further proceedings consistent with its opinion.
The facts that decided it
What the panel treated as outcome-determinative, and which side it favoured.
The March 25, 2024 WCAB decision was an intermediate procedural order, not a final order determining substantive rights or liability.
Favours Defendant prevailed
Because the order was not final, the petition for reconsideration was dismissed and removal denied.
From the decision · page 5Here, our Decision solely resolves an intermediate procedural or evidentiary issue or issues. The decision does not determine any substantive right or liability and does not determine a threshold issue. Accordingly, it is not a "final" decision and the petition will be dismissed to the extent it seeks reconsideration.
Defendant's Petition for Reconsideration was filed timely on April 16, 2024, but was not transmitted to the Appeals Board until after 60 days due to administrative irregularity.
Favours Defendant prevailed
This tolling of the 60-day period allowed the Board to consider the petition despite the delay, impacting the timeliness analysis.
From the decision · page 4In this case, defendant's petition was filed on April 16, 2024, and a response was due on June 17, 2024, but due to an administrative irregularity, the petition was not transmitted to the Appeals Board until June 18, 2024, and therefore unavailable to the Appeals Board until after 60 days from the time of filing. This administrative irregularity was not the fault of either party. Thus, pursuant to Shipley, the time within which the Appeals Board was to act on the petition for reconsideration was tolled until the petition became available to the Appeals Board.
The rules the panel named
Authorities as the decision cited them, with how this panel applied each one.
Labor Code section 5909; Shipley v. Workers' Comp. Appeals Bd. (1992) 7 Cal.App.4th 1104; Rea v. Workers' Comp. Appeals Bd. (2005) 127 Cal.App.4th 625
A petition for reconsideration must be acted upon within 60 days of filing, unless the file is misplaced beyond the petitioner's control, tolling the time period.
The WCAB applied this standard to toll the time period due to administrative irregularity making the petition unavailable to the Board.
From the decision · page 2DISCUSSION Labor Code section 59091 provides that a petition for reconsideration is deemed denied unless the Appeals Board acts on the petition within sixty days of filing. (Lab. Code, § 5909.) However, "it is a fundamental principle of due process that a party may not be deprived of a substantial right without notice...." (Shipley v. Workers' Comp. Appeals Bd. (1992) 7 Cal.App.4th 1104, 1108 [9 Cal. Rptr. 2d 345, 57 Cal.Comp.Cases 493]; see Rea v. Workers' Comp. Appeals Bd. (2005) 127 Cal.App.4th 625, 635 fn. 22 [25 Cal. Rptr. 3d 828, 70 Cal.Comp.Cases 312].) ["irregularity which deprives reconsideration under the statutory scheme denies due process"].) The Court of Appeal reversed the Appeals Board, holding that the time to act on the petition was tolled during the period the file was misplaced. (Shipley, supra, 7 Cal.App.4th at p.
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About this page
- A published decision of the California Workers' Compensation Appeals Board, taken apart by what it turned on. The Board publishes the decision itself; this page adds the extraction and quotes the passage behind every claim.
- The injured worker is not named here, and the case caption is not printed. Physicians appear as the decision names them, because a medical opinion is an act in a public proceeding.
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