In Mayor v. Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board, the Supreme Court today holds unanimously that the 60-day period in former Labor Code section 5909 for the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board to act on a petition for reconsideration is mandatory and cannot be extended by equitable tolling. The Court agrees with both the claimant’s counsel and amicus counsel representing employer interests, who joined forces to protest the WCAB’s delayed decisionmaking.
The case arose from a December 2013 injury to Joseph Mayor while working for Ross Valley Sanitation District. A workers’ compensation judge found Mayor permanently and totally disabled. Ross Valley petitioned for reconsideration. Nearly five months (144 days) after the petition was filed, the Board granted reconsideration. Mayor sought writ relief from the Court of Appeal, arguing the Board lost jurisdiction to grant reconsideration once the 60-day statutory period elapsed.
The First Appellate District, Division Four, agreed with Mayor, holding that the Board exceeded its jurisdiction and that the narrow grounds for equitable tolling recognized in Shipley v. Workers’ Comp. Appeals Bd. (1992) 7 Cal.App.4th 1104 were not met.
The Supreme Court then granted the Board’s petition for review. Horvitz & Levy filed an amicus brief and participated in oral argument, urging the Supreme Court to hold that the Board may not indefinitely toll the 60-day deadline, and to enforce the statutory language stating that if the Board fails to act within the deadline, the petition is deemed denied by operation of law. The Supreme Court’s opinion agrees with that position, rejecting the Board’s argument that equitable tolling should excuse delays caused by administrative problems in receiving or processing the petition.
The opinion takes away a tool that the Board has used to delay its rulings, often for years. As a result, practitioners for claimants and employers alike should be prepared to seek writ relief promptly if the Board does not act on a petition for reconsideration within the 60-day statutory period.
The court also filed an opinion today in Town of Apple Valley v. Apple Valley Ranchos Water, an eminent domain case. More on that shortly.
