What the panel ordered
The Findings and Order issued by the WCA on September 30, 2021, is rescinded and the matter is returned to the arbitrator for further proceedings consistent with this decision.
Petition for reconsideration of the Findings and Order issued by the workers' compensation arbitrator on September 30, 2021, was granted by the Appeals Board for further study of factual and legal issues.
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 Appeals Board found that the petition for reconsideration was timely due to equitable tolling and that the record was incomplete, preventing meaningful review, thus rescinding the prior Findings and Order and remanding for further proceedings.
From the decision · page 1We previously granted reconsideration in order to further study the factual and legal issues in this case. 1 This is our Opinion and Decision After Reconsideration.
The facts that decided it
What the panel treated as outcome-determinative, and which side it favoured.
The Appeals Board did not receive and process the petition until May 18, 2022, causing delay not attributable to the parties.
Favours Applicant prevailed
This delay led to the petition being deemed denied by operation of law, but the Board found equitable tolling applied, making the reconsideration timely.
From the decision · page 4In this case, the WCJ issued the Findings and Order on September 30, 2021, and according to EAMS, applicant filed a petition on October 25, 2021 and an amended petition on October 29, 2021. However, for reasons that are not entirely clear from the record, the Appeals Board did not receive and process the petition until May 18, 2022. Accordingly, the Appeals Board failed to act on the petition within 60 days, through no fault of the parties. The Appeals Board granted the petition on July 18, 2022, within 60 days of the day it became aware of it. In so doing so, we sent a clear signal to the parties of our intention to exercise jurisdiction and issue a final decision after reconsideration. Neither party expressed any opposition to this course of action, and it appears clear from the fact that neither party sought judicial review of our grant of reconsideration that both parties have acted in reliance on our grant.
The record was incomplete as the documentary evidence submitted by the parties was missing, preventing meaningful review.
Favours Applicant prevailed
Without a complete record, the Appeals Board could not conduct meaningful review or issue a decision on the merits, necessitating rescission and remand.
From the decision · page 6Here, the WCA issued the Report on November 13, 2021; however, while we received the arbitration transcript, the record still does not include any of the documentary evidence submitted by each of the parties.
The rules the panel named
Authorities as the decision cited them, with how this panel applied each one.
Lab. Code, §§ 112, 115, 5301, 5901, 5908.5, 5950; Cal. Code Regs., tit. 8, §§ 10320, 10330
Only the Appeals Board is statutorily authorized to issue a decision on a petition for reconsideration and must conduct de novo review as to the merits of the petition.
The Appeals Board reviewed the entire proceedings and granted reconsideration due to procedural irregularities and incomplete record.
From the decision · page 2Only the Appeals Board is statutorily authorized to issue a decision on a petition for reconsideration. (Lab. Code, § 112, 115, 5301, 5901, 5908.5, 5950; see Cal. Code Regs., tit. 8, § 10320, 10330.)2 The Appeals Board must conduct de novo review as to the merits of the petition and review the entire proceedings in the case. (Lab. Code, § 5906, 5908; see Lab. Code, § 5301, 5315, 5701, 5911.) Once a final decision by the Appeals Board on the merits of the petition issues, the parties may seek review under Labor Code section 5950, but appellate review is limited to review of the record certified by the Appeals Board. (Lab. Code, § 5901, 5951.)
What proof carried it
The evidence the panel weighed, by kind.
The Appeals Board did not receive and process the petition until May 18, 2022, causing delay not attributable to the parties.
From the decision · page 4In this case, the WCJ issued the Findings and Order on September 30, 2021, and according to EAMS, applicant filed a petition on October 25, 2021 and an amended petition on October 29, 2021. However, for reasons that are not entirely clear from the record, the Appeals Board did not receive and process the petition until May 18, 2022. Accordingly, the Appeals Board failed to act on the petition within 60 days, through no fault of the parties. The Appeals Board granted the petition on July 18, 2022, within 60 days of the day it became aware of it. In so doing so, we sent a clear signal to the parties of our intention to exercise jurisdiction and issue a final decision after reconsideration. Neither party expressed any opposition to this course of action, and it appears clear from the fact that neither party sought judicial review of our grant of reconsideration that both parties have acted in reliance on our grant.
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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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