Nunez

In 2004, the Legislature enacted substantial changes in workers’ compensation law. The legislative vehicle for these changes was Senate Bill No. 899 (2003-2004 Reg. Sess.) (Sen. Bill 899), enacted as an urgency measure on April 19, 2004. Most of the legislation was effective immediately, but the portion at issue in this case, relating to medical evaluation and reporting when the employee is represented by counsel, is only operative for injuries occurring on or after January 1, 2005.

Under the former version of Labor Code section 4060, a represented employee and his or her employer could each select a reporting medical evaluator when compensability of industrial injury was disputed. If liability was admitted by the employer and the dispute involved other issues, the parties were required to attempt selection of an agreed medical evaluator, and if unsuccessful, each side was entitled to select its own reporting medical evaluator under the former version of sections 4061 or 4062.

Sen. Bill 899 imposed a new procedure to resolve these disputes, but with limitations in its application. Under this procedure, the represented employee and employer are required to attempt to…