What the panel ordered
Petition for Reconsideration granted; WCJ's Findings and Order affirmed except amended to find QME Panel number 7480460 invalid; parties to proceed with Panel number 7483530.
Petition for Reconsideration filed by applicant challenging validity of QME Panel number 7480460; WCJ issued Findings of Fact and Order on December 2, 2022; WCAB granted reconsideration and issued Decision After Reconsideration on February 28, 2023.
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.
Panel number 7480460 was found invalid because defendant did not serve applicant's attorney with the denial letter as required by Labor Code section 4062.2 and AD Rule 30(b), depriving applicant's attorney of due process and opportunity to object.
From the decision · page 5While the Answer to the Application was properly served by the defendant, and applicant's attorney may have been aware that defendant denied injury as a result, the Answer did not include a "request for a medical evaluation pursuant to Section 4060" as required by section 4062.2 and AD Rule 30(b). As part of defendant's Exhibit B, the panel "packet," defendant included its denial letter of March 10, 2022, but this letter was not served on applicant's attorney as required by section 4062.2(b). Accordingly, applicant's attorney was not afforded due process by way of an opportunity to object, as set forth under section 4062.2(b). "Due process requires notice and a meaningful opportunity to present evidence in regards to the issues." (Rea v. Workers' Comp. Appeals Bd. (2005) 127 Cal.App.4th 625, 643 [70 Cal.Comp.Cases 312]; see also Fortich v. Workers' Comp. Appeals Bd. (1991) 233 Cal.App.3d 1449, 1452-1454 [56 Cal.Comp.Cases 537]. Therefore, Panel number 780460 is invalid.