What the panel ordered
Petition for Reconsideration is denied.
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 is not bound by statutory or common law rules of evidence and may admit hearsay evidence; both parties had opportunity to cross-examine; Perez was unavailable despite efforts to secure his attendance.
From the decision · page 1With respect to the WCJ's decision to admit into evidence the transcript of the deposition of Pablo Perez, we note that the WCAB is not bound by the statutory or common law rules of evidence (Lab. Code, § 5708), and a WCJ's decision cannot be overturned merely because it relied on evidence not admissible under the common law or statutory rules of evidence as proof of any fact in dispute (Lab. Code, § 5709). Moreover, as the Supreme Court has observed, the WCAB "from its early days, has [been] allowed to receive hearsay evidence and to proceed informally...." (French v. Rishell (1953) 40 Cal.2d 477, 481 [18 Cal.Comp.Cases 82, 84]; see also, e.g., Bland v. Workmen's Comp. Appeals Bd. (1970) 3 Cal.3d 324, 330 [35 Cal.Comp.Cases 513].)