What the panel ordered
Petition for reconsideration granted; December 5, 2025 Findings of Fact rescinded; matter returned to trial level for further proceedings on petition for sanctions and costs filed May 29, 2024.
Petition for reconsideration filed by defendant California Insurance Guarantee Association (CIGA) challenging the December 5, 2025 Findings of Fact by the WCJ that the WCAB lacks jurisdiction over defendant's petition for sanctions and costs filed May 29, 2024.
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 maintains jurisdiction over the issues of penalties, sanctions, and costs after the lien claimant began proceedings on May 23, 2023, despite the lien being dismissed or adjudicated previously, due to the unique procedural history and continuous litigation.
From the decision · page 7While we understand that subject matter jurisdiction cannot be waived, the issue here is not lien claimant's lien, which was either dismissed by operation of law or adjudicated by WCJ Walker's January 16, 2020 Findings of Fact. The issues here are sanctions and costs, which were bifurcated, with jurisdiction reserved, on November 26, 2023. (MOHSOE dated November 23, 2023, Stipulation no. 24, p. 4:6-7.) As we said before, although ordinarily, a dismissal of a lien ends all proceedings with lien claimant, given the unique and extensive procedural history of litigation for almost two decades, as well as lien claimant's actions in repeatedly submitting himself to workers' compensation proceedings, we remain steadfast in our conclusion that the WCAB maintains jurisdiction to adjudicate the issues of penalties, sanctions, and costs after lien claimant began proceedings on May 23, 2023 even though the issue of his lien and the issue of
The facts that decided it
What the panel treated as outcome-determinative, and which side it favoured.
The lien claimant failed to file a declaration under Labor Code section 4903.05 before the July 3, 2017 deadline, resulting in dismissal of the lien by operation of law.
Favours Defendant prevailed
This fact established that the lien was dismissed, but did not end WCAB jurisdiction over sanctions and costs due to the unique procedural history.
The lien claimant filed a petition to reopen on May 23, 2023, subjecting himself to WCAB proceedings despite the lien dismissal.
Favours Applicant prevailed
This fact supported the WCAB's continuing jurisdiction over sanctions and costs after the lien claimant's actions.
From the decision · page 7While we understand that subject matter jurisdiction cannot be waived, the issue here is not lien claimant's lien, which was either dismissed by operation of law or adjudicated by WCJ Walker's January 16, 2020 Findings of Fact. The issues here are sanctions and costs, which were bifurcated, with jurisdiction reserved, on November 26, 2023. (MOHSOE dated November 23, 2023, Stipulation no. 24, p. 4:6-7.) As we said before, although ordinarily, a dismissal of a lien ends all proceedings with lien claimant, given the unique and extensive procedural history of litigation for almost two decades, as well as lien claimant's actions in repeatedly submitting himself to workers' compensation proceedings, we remain steadfast in our conclusion that the WCAB maintains jurisdiction to adjudicate the issues of penalties, sanctions, and costs after lien claimant began proceedings on May 23, 2023 even though the issue of his lien and the issue of
The rules the panel named
Authorities as the decision cited them, with how this panel applied each one.
Labor Code section 5909
A petition for reconsideration is deemed denied unless the Appeals Board acts on the petition within 60 days from the date a trial judge transmits a case to the appeals board.
The Appeals Board must act on a petition for reconsideration within 60 days of transmission of the case to the Appeals Board, and service of the Report and Recommendation constitutes notice of transmission.
From the decision · page 5I. Former Labor Code1 section 5909 provided that a petition for reconsideration was deemed denied unless the Appeals Board acted on the petition within 60 days from the date of filing. (§ 5909.) Effective July 2, 2024, section 5909 was amended to state in relevant part that: (a) A petition for reconsideration is deemed to have been denied by the appeals board unless it is acted upon within 60 days from the date a trial judge transmits a case to the appeals board.
Labor Code section 4903.05
A lien claimant's lien is dismissed by operation of law if a declaration under Labor Code section 4903.05 is not filed by the deadline.
The lien claimant failed to file a declaration under section 4903.05 before the July 3, 2017 deadline, resulting in dismissal of the lien by operation of law, but the WCAB retains jurisdiction over sanctions and costs related to the lien due to procedural history.
The same issues, filtered across the whole corpus — or paste your own facts and let the search rank by factor match.
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.
- Issues, outcomes and weights were extracted by AI and released only where the source passage checked. Read the official decision before relying on anything here. Not legal advice.
- If you are named in this decision and want this page removed, write to privacy@similarcase.com.