What the panel ordered
The Appeals Board denied the defendant's petition for removal from the order taking the matter off calendar, finding no substantial prejudice or irreparable harm and no abuse of discretion by the WCJ.p. 2
Defendant filed a petition for removal from the order taking the matter off calendar issued on April 30, 2026, by the WCJ. The WCJ filed a Report and Recommendation on Petition for Removal recommending denial of removal.
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 Appeals Board found no substantial prejudice or irreparable harm if removal was denied and no abuse of discretion by the WCJ in taking the matter off calendar for further discovery, thus denying removal.
From the decision · page 1Defendant has filed a petition for removal from the order taking the matter off calendar issued on April 30, 2026, by the workers’ compensation administrative law judge (WCJ). Defendant contends that the matter is ready to proceed to trial. We have not received an Answer from applicant. The WCJ filed a Report and Recommendation on Petition for Removal (Report) recommending that we deny removal. We have considered the allegations of the Petition for Removal and the contents of the WCJ’s Report. Based on our review of the record and based upon the WCJ’s analysis of the merits of petitioner’s arguments in the WCJ’s Report, we will deny removal. Removal is an extraordinary remedy rarely exercised by the Appeals Board. (Cortez v. Workers’ Comp. Appeals Bd. (2006) 136 Cal.App.4th 596, 599, fn. 5 [71 Cal.Comp.Cases 155]; Kleemann v. Workers’ Comp. Appeals Bd. (2005) 127 Cal.App.4th 274, 280, fn.
The facts that decided it
What the panel treated as outcome-determinative, and which side it favoured.
No substantial prejudice or irreparable harm would result if removal was denied.
Favours Defendant prevailed
This supported the denial of the petition for removal as the Appeals Board requires such a showing to grant removal.
From the decision · page 1Defendant has filed a petition for removal from the order taking the matter off calendar issued on April 30, 2026, by the workers’ compensation administrative law judge (WCJ). Defendant contends that the matter is ready to proceed to trial. We have not received an Answer from applicant. The WCJ filed a Report and Recommendation on Petition for Removal (Report) recommending that we deny removal. We have considered the allegations of the Petition for Removal and the contents of the WCJ’s Report. Based on our review of the record and based upon the WCJ’s analysis of the merits of petitioner’s arguments in the WCJ’s Report, we will deny removal. Removal is an extraordinary remedy rarely exercised by the Appeals Board. (Cortez v. Workers’ Comp. Appeals Bd. (2006) 136 Cal.App.4th 596, 599, fn. 5 [71 Cal.Comp.Cases 155]; Kleemann v. Workers’ Comp. Appeals Bd. (2005) 127 Cal.App.4th 274, 280, fn.
Reconsideration would be an adequate remedy if the matter ultimately proceeds to a final adverse decision.
Favours Defendant prevailed
This supported the denial of removal because the petitioner did not show reconsideration would be inadequate.
From the decision · page 1Defendant has filed a petition for removal from the order taking the matter off calendar issued on April 30, 2026, by the workers’ compensation administrative law judge (WCJ). Defendant contends that the matter is ready to proceed to trial. We have not received an Answer from applicant. The WCJ filed a Report and Recommendation on Petition for Removal (Report) recommending that we deny removal. We have considered the allegations of the Petition for Removal and the contents of the WCJ’s Report. Based on our review of the record and based upon the WCJ’s analysis of the merits of petitioner’s arguments in the WCJ’s Report, we will deny removal. Removal is an extraordinary remedy rarely exercised by the Appeals Board. (Cortez v. Workers’ Comp. Appeals Bd. (2006) 136 Cal.App.4th 596, 599, fn. 5 [71 Cal.Comp.Cases 155]; Kleemann v. Workers’ Comp. Appeals Bd. (2005) 127 Cal.App.4th 274, 280, fn.
The WCJ did not abuse discretion in ordering the matter off calendar for further discovery.
Favours Defendant prevailed
This supported the denial of removal as there was no procedural error warranting removal.
From the decision · page 2(Appeals Board en banc).) Furthermore, decisions of the Appeals Board must be supported by substantial evidence. (Lab. Code, §§ 5903, 5952(d); Lamb v. Workmen’s Comp. Appeals Bd. (1974) 11 Cal.3d 274 [39 Cal.Comp.Cases 310]; Garza v. Workmen’s Comp. Appeals Bd. (1970) Cal.3d 312 [35 Cal.Comp.Cases 500]; LeVesque v. Workmen’s Comp. Appeals Bd. (1970) 1 Cal.3d 627 [35 Cal.Comp.Cases 16].) An adequate and complete record is necessary to understand the basis for the WCJ’s decision. (Lab. Code, § 5313; see also Cal. Code Regs., tit. 8, § 10761.) The Labor Code is quite clear that the WCJ and the Appeals Board have discretion when setting a matter for trial: “The hearing on the application may be adjourned from time to time and from place to place in the discretion of the appeals board or the workers’ compensation judge holding the hearing.” (Lab. Code, § 5700.) Here, based upon the WCJ’s analysis of the merits of petitioner’s arguments, we are not persuaded that substantial prejudice or irreparable harm will result if removal is denied and/or that reconsideration will not be an adequate remedy if the matter ultimately proceeds to a final decision adverse to petitioner. Nor are we persuaded that the WCJ abused his discretion in ordering the matter off calendar for further discovery. Accordingly, we deny removal.
The rules the panel named
Authorities as the decision cited them, with how this panel applied each one.
Cortez v. Workers’ Comp. Appeals Bd. (2006) 136 Cal.App.4th 596, 599, fn. 5; Kleemann v. Workers’ Comp. Appeals Bd. (2005) 127 Cal.App.4th 274, 280, fn. 2; Cal. Code Regs., tit. 8, 10955(a)
Removal is an extraordinary remedy rarely exercised by the Appeals Board; it will grant removal only if the petitioner shows substantial prejudice or irreparable harm if removal is not granted, and that reconsideration will not be an adequate remedy if a final adverse decision issues.
The Appeals Board applied this standard to deny the petition for removal, finding no substantial prejudice or irreparable harm and that reconsideration would be adequate.
From the decision · page 1Defendant has filed a petition for removal from the order taking the matter off calendar issued on April 30, 2026, by the workers’ compensation administrative law judge (WCJ). Defendant contends that the matter is ready to proceed to trial. We have not received an Answer from applicant. The WCJ filed a Report and Recommendation on Petition for Removal (Report) recommending that we deny removal. We have considered the allegations of the Petition for Removal and the contents of the WCJ’s Report. Based on our review of the record and based upon the WCJ’s analysis of the merits of petitioner’s arguments in the WCJ’s Report, we will deny removal. Removal is an extraordinary remedy rarely exercised by the Appeals Board. (Cortez v. Workers’ Comp. Appeals Bd. (2006) 136 Cal.App.4th 596, 599, fn. 5 [71 Cal.Comp.Cases 155]; Kleemann v. Workers’ Comp. Appeals Bd. (2005) 127 Cal.App.4th 274, 280, fn.
Lab. Code, § 5700
The hearing on the application may be adjourned in the discretion of the appeals board or the workers’ compensation judge holding the hearing.
The Appeals Board found no abuse of discretion by the WCJ in ordering the matter off calendar for further discovery.
From the decision · page 2(Appeals Board en banc).) Furthermore, decisions of the Appeals Board must be supported by substantial evidence. (Lab. Code, §§ 5903, 5952(d); Lamb v. Workmen’s Comp. Appeals Bd. (1974) 11 Cal.3d 274 [39 Cal.Comp.Cases 310]; Garza v. Workmen’s Comp. Appeals Bd. (1970) Cal.3d 312 [35 Cal.Comp.Cases 500]; LeVesque v. Workmen’s Comp. Appeals Bd. (1970) 1 Cal.3d 627 [35 Cal.Comp.Cases 16].) An adequate and complete record is necessary to understand the basis for the WCJ’s decision. (Lab. Code, § 5313; see also Cal. Code Regs., tit. 8, § 10761.) The Labor Code is quite clear that the WCJ and the Appeals Board have discretion when setting a matter for trial: “The hearing on the application may be adjourned from time to time and from place to place in the discretion of the appeals board or the workers’ compensation judge holding the hearing.” (Lab. Code, § 5700.) Here, based upon the WCJ’s analysis of the merits of petitioner’s arguments, we are not persuaded that substantial prejudice or irreparable harm will result if removal is denied and/or that reconsideration will not be an adequate remedy if the matter ultimately proceeds to a final decision adverse to petitioner. Nor are we persuaded that the WCJ abused his discretion in ordering the matter off calendar for further discovery. Accordingly, we deny removal.
What proof carried it
The evidence the panel weighed, by kind.
WCJ's analysis of the merits of petitioner's arguments
From the decision · page 1Defendant has filed a petition for removal from the order taking the matter off calendar issued on April 30, 2026, by the workers’ compensation administrative law judge (WCJ). Defendant contends that the matter is ready to proceed to trial. We have not received an Answer from applicant. The WCJ filed a Report and Recommendation on Petition for Removal (Report) recommending that we deny removal. We have considered the allegations of the Petition for Removal and the contents of the WCJ’s Report. Based on our review of the record and based upon the WCJ’s analysis of the merits of petitioner’s arguments in the WCJ’s Report, we will deny removal. Removal is an extraordinary remedy rarely exercised by the Appeals Board. (Cortez v. Workers’ Comp. Appeals Bd. (2006) 136 Cal.App.4th 596, 599, fn. 5 [71 Cal.Comp.Cases 155]; Kleemann v. Workers’ Comp. Appeals Bd. (2005) 127 Cal.App.4th 274, 280, fn.
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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.
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