What the panel ordered
Petition for reconsideration dismissed as premature for lack of a new final order or decision from which reconsideration may be taken.
Petition for reconsideration filed by Subsequent Injuries Benefits Trust Fund seeking review of the Board's September 8, 2023 Opinion and Order granting applicant's petition for reconsideration and rescinding the WCJ's finding of untimeliness, dismissed as premature because no new final order was issued.
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 Board held that the petition for reconsideration was premature because no new final order or decision was issued from which reconsideration could be taken, as the prior order rescinded the WCJ's untimeliness finding and returned the matter for further proceedings without new findings.
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.) A "final" order has been defined as one that either (1) "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, 413]; Kaiser Foundation Hospitals v. Workers' Comp. Appeals Bd. (Kramer) (1978) 82 Cal.App.3d 39, 45 [43 Cal.Comp.Cases 661, 665]); or (2) determines a "threshold" issue that is fundamental to the claim for benefits. (Maranian v. Workers' Comp. Appeals Bd. (2000) 81 Cal.App.4th 1068, 1070, 1075 [65 Cal.Comp.Cases 650, 650-651, 655-656], emphasis added.) Interlocutory procedural or evidentiary decisions entered in the midst of the workers' compensation proceedings, are not considered "final" orders. (Maranian, supra, 81 Cal.App.4th at p. 1075; Rymer, supra, 211 Cal.App.3d at p. 1180; Kramer, supra, 82 Cal.App.3d at p. 45.) Here, our September 8, 2023 rescinded the WCJ's June 13, 2023 finding that applicant's claim for SIBTF benefits was untimely, and returned the matter to the trial level for further proceedings. We did not issue new findings or orders from which reconsideration may be taken. As such, SIBTF's petition is premature.