What the panel ordered
Petition for Reconsideration dismissed; matter returned to WCJ for further proceedings treating petition as objection to Notice of Intention to Dismiss Case.
Petition for Reconsideration filed by applicant's attorney after Notice of Intention to Dismiss Case was issued by WCJ; WCJ recommended denial of petition; WCAB dismisses petition as premature and returns matter to WCJ for further proceedings.
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 petition for reconsideration was premature because no final order had been issued; interlocutory procedural decisions are not final orders subject to reconsideration.
From the decision · page 2A petition for reconsideration may properly be taken only from a "final" order, decision, or award. (Lab. Code, § 5900(a), 5902, 5903, emphasis added.) A "final" order has been defined as one that either "determines any substantive right or liability of those involved in the case (Rymer v. Hagler (1989) 211 Cal.App.3d 1171, 1180; Safeway Stores, Inc. v. Workers' Comp. Appeals Bd. (Pointer) (1980) 104 Cal.App.3d 528, 534-535 [45 Cal.Comp.Cases 410]; Kaiser Foundation