What the panel ordered
The WCAB vacated its prior Opinion and Order Granting Reconsideration and dismissed the December 3, 2022 Petition for Reconsideration filed by the applicant.
Applicant filed a Petition for Reconsideration challenging the Order Approving Compromise and Release (OACR) issued by the WCJ on June 5, 2017. The WCAB initially granted reconsideration but later vacated that order and dismissed the Petition as premature, recommending the WCJ consider the Petition as one to set aside the OACR and hold a hearing.
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 vacated its prior order granting reconsideration and dismissed the Petition as premature, recommending the WCJ consider the Petition as one to set aside the OACR and hold a hearing to allow the parties to present evidence and raise issues.
From the decision · page 5Here, applicant contends he is aggrieved by the OACR on the grounds discussed above. He also alleges there to be a conflict of interest, attorney malpractice/negligence, character assassination, stress, anxiety, and depression, and contempt of court without further discussion and details as to these allegations. Because no hearing was held, the WCJ did not have the opportunity to assess applicant's arguments or evidence. Based on the record before us, when applicant filed the initial January 2, 2019 Petition, the WCJ and we should have treated it as a petition to set aside the OACR and provided applicant with the opportunity to present evidence at a hearing. Instead, we dismissed the petition on jurisdictional grounds with no consideration of the merits. The issue here is not whether the petition was timely, but whether there is good cause under Labor Code section 5803 to set it aside, an issue that was not previously considered by the WCJ.