JOSHUA SUIFR1N, Applicant
v.
DEPARTMENT OF FORESTRY, legally uninsured, Defendants
Adjudication Numbers: ADJ12076053, ADJ12728915
California Workers Compensation Decisions
Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board State Of California
February 5, 2021
Sacramento
District Office
OPINION
AND ORDER DISMISSING PETITION FOR RECONSIDERATION, GRANTING
PETITION FOR REMOVAL AND DECISION AFTER REMOVAL
KATHERINE A. ZALEWSKI, CHAIR
We have
considered the allegations of defendant's Petition for
Reconsideration of the Amended Joint Findings and Order
(F&O) issued by the workers' compensation
administrative law judge (WCJ) on November 12, 2020,
applicant's answer and the contents of the WCJ's
Report with respect thereto. Based on our review of the
record and for the reasons discussed below, we will dismiss
the Petition to the extent it seeks reconsideration, grant
the Petition to the extent it seeks removal and amend the
F&O to add an order deferring the issue of the statute of
limitations. The F&O will otherwise be affirmed.
A
petition for reconsideration may properly be taken only from
a "final" order, decision, or award. (Lab. Code,
§§ 5900(a), 5902, 5903.) A "final" order
has been defined as one that either "determines any
substantive right or liability of those involved in the
case" (Rymer v. Hagler (1989) 211 Cal.App.3d
1171, 1180; Safeway Stores, Inc. v. Workers' Comp.
Appeals Bd. (Pointer) (1980) 104 Cal.App.3d 528, 534-535
[45 Cal.Comp.Cases 410]; Kaiser Foundation Hospitals v.
Workers' Comp. Appeals Bd. {Kramer) (1978) 82
Cal.App.3d 39, 45 [43 Cal.Comp.Cases 661]) or determines a
"threshold" issue that is fundamental to the claim
for benefits. (Maranian v. Workers' Comp. Appeals
Bd. (2000) 81 Cal.App.4th 1068, 1070, 1075 [65
Cal.Comp.Cases 650].) Interlocutory procedural or evidentiary
decisions, entered in the midst of the workers'
compensation proceedings, are not considered
"final" orders. (Id. at p. 1075
["interim orders, which do not decide a threshold issue,
such as intermediate procedural or evidentiary decisions, are
not 'final' "]; Rymer, supra, at p.
1180 ["[t]he term ['final'] does not include...
