What the panel ordered
Petition for Reconsideration granted; Order Dismissing Cases rescinded; matter returned to WCJ for further proceedings.
Applicant seeks reconsideration of the Order Dismissing Cases issued by the WCJ on January 10, 2025, which dismissed the cases for failure to appear.
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 dismissal order was based on an invalid Notice of Intention to Dismiss (NIT) because there was no adequate evidence that applicant was properly noticed for the hearings, so the dismissal was void and the petition for reconsideration was granted.
From the decision · page 8the WCJ issued the NIT on December 16, 2024.4 Failure to appear is a basis for dismissal only "[w]hen a required party, after notice, fails to appear at a trial." (Cal. Code Regs., tit. 8, § 10756, emphasis added.) Here, the record does not include evidence that applicant was noticed for the November 4 or December 16 hearing dates (nor the erroneous December 26 date), so there was no "failure to appear."
The facts that decided it
What the panel treated as outcome-determinative, and which side it favoured.
No proof of service for the October 9, 2024 and November 4, 2024 hearing minutes, and no adequate notice to applicant for those hearings.
Favours Applicant prevailed
Without proper notice, applicant's failure to appear cannot be considered a valid basis for dismissal.
From the decision · page 7Defendant was designated to serve the October 9, 2024 minutes, which contained the November 4, 2024 hearing date, but the record contains no proof of service for the October 9, 2024 minutes. Similarly, at the November 4, 2024 hearing defendant was designated to serve the minutes, and the record again contains no proof of service. Moreover, even if the November 4, 2024 minutes had been served, they would not have provided adequate notice of hearing to applicant, because the date of the next hearing is missing from those minutes. (11/4/24 Minutes.)
The rules the panel named
Authorities as the decision cited them, with how this panel applied each one.
Cal. Code Regs., tit. 8, 10756
Failure to appear is a basis for dismissal only when a required party, after notice, fails to appear at a trial.
The record did not include evidence that applicant was noticed for the hearings, so there was no failure to appear.
From the decision · page 8the WCJ issued the NIT on December 16, 2024.4 Failure to appear is a basis for dismissal only "[w]hen a required party, after notice, fails to appear at a trial." (Cal. Code Regs., tit. 8, § 10756, emphasis added.) Here, the record does not include evidence that applicant was noticed for the November 4 or December 16 hearing dates (nor the erroneous December 26 date), so there was no "failure to appear."
Cal. Code Regs., tit. 8, 10832
An order based on an invalid Notice of Intention to Dismiss is void.
The NIT was invalid because there was no adequate evidence of notice to applicant, making the dismissal order void.
From the decision · page 8The WCJ's decision must be based on "admitted evidence in the record" (Hamilton, supra, 66 Cal.Comp.Cases at p. 476), but the NIT issued here was not supported by an adequate evidentiary record. The NIT is invalid, too, because the WCJ denied defendant's request to issue an NIT for failure to appear on November 4, 2024, and yet relied on the failure to appear on November 4, as a basis for the December 16, 2024 NIT. As nothing had changed between those two dates, there was no legal basis for the WCJ to reverse her prior order. The NIT was based on applicant's failure to appear at two hearings, but there is no adequate evidence in the record that applicant was noticed for these hearings, so that there was no legal basis for the NIT. Under these circumstances, there was no legal basis for the NIT to issue, and the NIT is void. (Cal. Code Regs., tit. 8, § 10832.)
What proof carried it
The evidence the panel weighed, by kind.
Lack of proof of service for hearing minutes on October 9, 2024 and November 4, 2024, and no adequate notice to applicant for those hearings.
From the decision · page 7Defendant was designated to serve the October 9, 2024 minutes, which contained the November 4, 2024 hearing date, but the record contains no proof of service for the October 9, 2024 minutes. Similarly, at the November 4, 2024 hearing defendant was designated to serve the minutes, and the record again contains no proof of service. Moreover, even if the November 4, 2024 minutes had been served, they would not have provided adequate notice of hearing to applicant, because the date of the next hearing is missing from those minutes. (11/4/24 Minutes.)
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About this page
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