What the panel ordered
Grant of removal; WCJ's findings rescinded and matter remanded for further proceedings.
ICW petitioned for reconsideration or removal of a WCJ's order regarding ex parte communication with a QME; the Board granted removal, vacated the WCJ's findings, and remanded for further proceedings.
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 found the WCJ's findings regarding ex parte communication and the remedy were not final orders and that removal, not reconsideration, was the proper procedural avenue. The matter was remanded for the trier of fact to determine if there was an ex parte communication and the appropriate remedy.
From the decision · page 201 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED as the Decision After Removal of the Workers' Compensation
The facts that decided it
What the panel treated as outcome-determinative, and which side it favoured.
The evidence was unclear whether The Hartford's letter to the QME was properly served on the opposing party.
Favours neutral
This factual uncertainty required remand for further proceedings to determine if there was an ex parte communication and the appropriate remedy.
What the panel did with the medical opinions
The role the physician served, and the weight the opinion carried. Physicians are named here as the decision names them; we do not score them.
Evaluated applicant and opined on causation of coronary artery disease and myocardial infarction; subject of ex parte communication dispute.
Dr. Weber's receipt of information from The Hartford was central to the ex parte communication issue.
From the decision · page 316 Robert Weber, M.D., acted as the internal medicine panel QME and evaluated applicant on August
Evaluated applicant and prepared a medical-legal report referenced in the ex parte communication dispute.
Dr. Paul's report was sent to Dr. Weber and was the subject of the ex parte communication analysis.
From the decision · page 43 Robindra Paul, M.D., was the psychiatric panel QME in ADJ9013590 and evaluated applicant on
The rules the panel named
Authorities as the decision cited them, with how this panel applied each one.
Labor Code section 4062.3(b)
Labor Code section 4062.3(b) requires that information proposed to be provided to the QME must be served on the opposing party 20 days before it is provided to the QME.
Applied to determine whether The Hartford's provision of Dr. Paul's report to Dr. Weber was proper.
From the decision · page 1017 opposing party "20 days" before providing it to the QME. This 20-day time period indicates an intent to
Cal. Code Regs., tit. 8, § 10843(a)
Removal is the appropriate procedural avenue to challenge a decision regarding disputes over what information to provide to the QME and ex parte communication with the QME.
Applied to determine that ICW's petition should be granted as one for removal, not reconsideration.
From the decision · page 184 regarding a party's improper provision of information to a QME or ex parte communication with a QME.
What proof carried it
The evidence the panel weighed, by kind.
Whether The Hartford's letter and attached psychiatric QME report were properly served on the opposing party was a key factual dispute for determining ex parte communication.
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.
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