A California appellate court has overturned a longstanding practice of the state’s Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board involving cases where parties in comp claims petition for a reconsideration of decisions by either the board or a comp judge.
In a Tuesday ruling, the Court of Appeals of California, Second District sided with a handful of petitioners who argued that the comp board for years has engaged in a “grant-for-study” practice in which it grants reconsideration petitions for the purposes of further study without first deciding whether reconsideration is warranted.
The practice often leads to the board ruling on the merits of a reconsideration petition many months after a petition is filed, despite the fact that the board is required to act on these petitions within 60 days.
“The Board may not simply grant reconsideration for the purpose of further study,” the court wrote. “We therefore issue a writ of mandate requiring the Board to cease its grant-for-study procedure and to comply with the statute when granting reconsideration.”
The court said state statute requires the board to make a “reasoned decision” when granting petitions for reconsideration, and the grant-for-study practice has been an impermissible way of circumventing its duties.
The court further held that the board is not required to issue a final ruling on the merits of a petition for reconsideration within 60 days, but that it simply must decide whether to grant reconsideration within that timeframe.