What the panel ordered
The Appeals Board granted the petition for removal and ordered the matter to proceed to a mandatory settlement conference so the WCJ may review the pre-trial conference statement with the parties.
Defendant filed a petition for removal from the Minutes of Hearing issued on April 9, 2026, by the WCJ, which converted an expedited hearing into a mandatory settlement conference and continued the matter to a trial setting.
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 Appeals Board found that the defendant's right to due process was violated by setting the matter for trial without completing a pre-trial conference statement on the day of the hearing and without the WCJ reviewing the statement with the parties, thus granting removal was necessary to avoid substantial prejudice or irreparable harm.
From the decision · page 3Furthermore, violating section 5502 violates the parties' right to due process to be notified of the issues upon which a trial is set. Accordingly, we find that defendant's right to due process has been violated by setting the matter for trial without completing a PTCS on the day of the hearing and without the WCJ reviewing the PTCS with the parties. As to the issue of the adjuster's testimony, upon return the WCJ may accept defendant's petition for removal as a petition to have the adjuster testify remotely. The WCJ may create a record and decide the request. (Perez v. Chicago Dogs (2025) 90 Cal. Comp. Cases 830, 838, (Appeals Board en banc).) Accordingly, we grant removal and as our Decision After Removal, we will order this matter to procced to an MSC so that the WCJ may review the PTCS with the parties. For the foregoing reasons, IT IS ORDERED that defendant's Petition for Removal from the Minutes of Hearing issued on April 9, 2026, by the WCJ is GRANTED.