Authorities as the decision cited them, with how this panel applied each one.
Labor Code section 5909
A petition for reconsideration must be acted upon within 60 days of transmission to the Appeals Board.
The Board timely acted on the Petition filed June 6, 2025, issuing this decision on August 5, 2025.
From the decision · page 3Former Labor Code section 59091 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. (Lab.
Code, § 5909.) Effective July 2, 2024, section 5909 was amended to state in relevant part that:
Labor Code section 4620(b)
A contested claim exists when the employer knows an injured worker is claiming a benefit and fails to accept liability for it.
The Board found no indication defendant accepted liability after receiving the Application, supporting existence of contested claim.
From the decision · page 5Section 4620 states a contested claim exists when the employer knows that an injured
worker is claiming a benefit and fails to accept liability for it. (Lab. Code, § 4620(b).) We see no
indication in the record that defendant accepted liability after it received the Application. Indeed,
the only evidence referred to by defendant is from before the filing of the Application, and not
after.
Code of Civil Procedure section 2017.010
The Appeals Board has jurisdiction over discovery disputes and discovery must be relevant to the claim or defense.
The subpoenas were relevant to applicant's claim and discovery is allowed to obtain admissible evidence, supporting lien claimant's services as reasonable and necessary.
From the decision · page 5We are unpersuaded by defendant's argument that lien claimant did not show that the costs
of the subpoenas were reasonable and necessary under section 4621. Code of Civil Procedure
section 2017.010 states:
WCAB Rule 10450 (Cal. Code Regs., tit. 8, 10450)
The Appeals Board's jurisdiction is invoked by an application for adjudication of rights and liabilities, and discovery may not be conducted until the application is filed.
The Board noted that the application filed by applicant invoked jurisdiction and assumed disputes existed, countering defendant's argument that liability was accepted.
From the decision · page 4Next, defendant's argument that it accepted liability for injury to applicant's back and paid
medical benefits and temporary disability is similarly unconvincing. As relevant here, WCAB Rule
10450 (Cal. Code Regs., tit. 8, § 10450) specifies that the jurisdiction of the Appeals Board is
invoked by way of an application for "proceedings for the adjudication of rights and liabilities...
and that no discovery may be conducted until the application is filed." That is, the purpose of the
application is to give the Appeals Board the authority to adjudicate disputes, and it is based on the
underlying assumption that disputes exist. Yet, defendant ignores that applicant filed an
Application after the two letters of May 2013 and March 2014 that it refers to in support of its
arguments that it accepted liability.
WCAB Rule 10945 (Cal. Code Regs., tit. 8, 10945)
A petition for reconsideration must comply with WCAB Rule 10945 requirements.
The Board found defendant's petition improper for incorporating by reference and lacking explanation, rejecting defendant's burden-shifting argument.
From the decision · page 4In its Petition, defendant contends that the Decision "impermissibly shifted" the lien
claimant's burden of proof to defendant. First, we remind defendant of the requirements for a
proper petition under WCAB Rule 10945 (Cal. Code Regs., tit. 8, § 10945(a)(b)), and note that
defendant's attempt to "incorporate by reference" the WCJ's discussion is not only improper, it is
also not persuasive because defendant fails to explain why it believes that the WCJ's analysis was
correct.