AUREA FISK, Applicant
v.
BARONHR WEST; CLEAR SPRING PROPERTY And CASUALTY COMPANY, administered by CCMSI, Defendants
Adjudication Nos. ADJ13380667, ADJ13380668
California Workers Compensation Decisions
Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board State of California
September 27, 2021
OPINION
AND ORDER DENYING PETITION FOR RECONSIDERATION
KATHERINE A. ZALEWSKI, CHAIR.
We have
considered the allegations of the Petition for
Reconsideration and the contents of the report of the
workers’ compensation administrative law judge (WCJ)
with respect thereto. Based on our review of the record, and
based upon the WCJ’s analysis of the merits of the
petitioner’s arguments in the WCJ’s report, we
will deny the Petition as one seeking reconsideration.
If a
decision includes resolution of a “threshold”
issue, then it is a “final” decision, whether or
not all issues are resolved or there is an ultimate decision
on the right to benefits. (Aldi v. Carr, McClellan,
Ingersoll, Thompson & Horn (2006) 71 Cal.Comp.Cases
783, 784, fn. 2 (Appeals Board en banc).) Threshold issues
include, but are not limited to, the following: injury
arising out of and in the course of employment, jurisdiction,
the existence of an employment relationship and statute of
limitations issues. (See Capital Builders Hardware, Inc.
v. Workers’ Comp. Appeals Bd. (Gaona)
(2016) 5 Cal.App.5th 658, 662 [81 Cal.Comp.Cases 1122].)
Failure to timely petition for reconsideration of a final
decision bars later challenge to the propriety of the
decision before the WCAB or court of appeal. (See Lab. Code,
§ 5904.) Alternatively, non-final decisions may later be
challenged by a petition for reconsideration once a final
decision issues.
A
decision issued by the Appeals Board may address a hybrid of
both threshold and interlocutory issues. If a party
challenges a hybrid decision, the petition seeking relief is
treated as a petition for reconsideration because the
decision resolves a threshold issue. However, if the
petitioner challenging a hybrid decision only disputes the
WCJ’s determination regarding interlocutory issues,
then the Appeals Board will evaluate the issues raised by the...
