What the panel ordered
Petition for disqualification of the WCJ is denied.p. 4
Petition for disqualification of the WCJ filed by defendant was considered and denied by the WCAB panel.
This docket was decided more than once. Shown here is the latest released decision; we also hold February 3, 2025.
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 panel found no grounds for disqualification as the WCJ's opinions were not fixed and could be changed upon further evidence and argument, and no bias was demonstrated.
From the decision · page 1Defendant, Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center, seeks disqualification of the workers’ compensation administrative law judge (WCJ) based upon the allegation that the WCJ has made unqualified opinions as to the merits of the case. We have received an answer from applicant. The WCJ filed a Report and Recommendation on Petition for Disqualification (Report) recommending that we dismiss or deny disqualification. We have considered the allegations of the Petition for Disqualification 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 contained in the WCJ’s Report, we will deny disqualification. Labor Code 1 section 5311 provides that a party may seek to disqualify a WCJ upon any one or more of the grounds specified in Code of Civil Procedure section 641. (§ 5311; see also Code Civ.
The facts that decided it
What the panel treated as outcome-determinative, and which side it favoured.
The WCJ expressed opinions on the merits but they were not fixed and could be changed upon further evidence and argument.
Favours Defendant prevailed
This showed no basis for disqualification under Code of Civil Procedure section 641(f).
From the decision · page 1Defendant, Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center, seeks disqualification of the workers’ compensation administrative law judge (WCJ) based upon the allegation that the WCJ has made unqualified opinions as to the merits of the case. We have received an answer from applicant. The WCJ filed a Report and Recommendation on Petition for Disqualification (Report) recommending that we dismiss or deny disqualification. We have considered the allegations of the Petition for Disqualification 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 contained in the WCJ’s Report, we will deny disqualification. Labor Code 1 section 5311 provides that a party may seek to disqualify a WCJ upon any one or more of the grounds specified in Code of Civil Procedure section 641. (§ 5311; see also Code Civ.
No evidence of bias or enmity by the WCJ was demonstrated.
Favours Defendant prevailed
This negated grounds for disqualification under Code of Civil Procedure section 641(g).
From the decision · page 1Defendant, Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center, seeks disqualification of the workers’ compensation administrative law judge (WCJ) based upon the allegation that the WCJ has made unqualified opinions as to the merits of the case. We have received an answer from applicant. The WCJ filed a Report and Recommendation on Petition for Disqualification (Report) recommending that we dismiss or deny disqualification. We have considered the allegations of the Petition for Disqualification 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 contained in the WCJ’s Report, we will deny disqualification. Labor Code 1 section 5311 provides that a party may seek to disqualify a WCJ upon any one or more of the grounds specified in Code of Civil Procedure section 641. (§ 5311; see also Code Civ.
The rules the panel named
Authorities as the decision cited them, with how this panel applied each one.
Labor Code section 5311; Code of Civil Procedure section 641; WCAB Rule 10960
A party may seek to disqualify a WCJ upon grounds specified in Code of Civil Procedure section 641, including forming or expressing an unqualified opinion as to the merits or demonstrating bias.
The panel applied these standards to evaluate the petition and found no grounds for disqualification.
From the decision · page 1Defendant, Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center, seeks disqualification of the workers’ compensation administrative law judge (WCJ) based upon the allegation that the WCJ has made unqualified opinions as to the merits of the case. We have received an answer from applicant. The WCJ filed a Report and Recommendation on Petition for Disqualification (Report) recommending that we dismiss or deny disqualification. We have considered the allegations of the Petition for Disqualification 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 contained in the WCJ’s Report, we will deny disqualification. Labor Code 1 section 5311 provides that a party may seek to disqualify a WCJ upon any one or more of the grounds specified in Code of Civil Procedure section 641. (§ 5311; see also Code Civ.
What proof carried it
The evidence the panel weighed, by kind.
The WCJ's Report and Recommendation on Petition for Disqualification was considered and found to support denial of disqualification.
From the decision · page 1Defendant, Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center, seeks disqualification of the workers’ compensation administrative law judge (WCJ) based upon the allegation that the WCJ has made unqualified opinions as to the merits of the case. We have received an answer from applicant. The WCJ filed a Report and Recommendation on Petition for Disqualification (Report) recommending that we dismiss or deny disqualification. We have considered the allegations of the Petition for Disqualification 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 contained in the WCJ’s Report, we will deny disqualification. Labor Code 1 section 5311 provides that a party may seek to disqualify a WCJ upon any one or more of the grounds specified in Code of Civil Procedure section 641. (§ 5311; see also Code Civ.
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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.
- The injured worker is not named here, and the case caption is not printed. Physicians appear as the decision names them, because a medical opinion is an act in a public proceeding.
- Issues, outcomes and weights were extracted by AI and released only where the source passage checked. Read the official decision before relying on anything here. Not legal advice.
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