Nestlé Ice Cream Co. v. Workers' Compensation Appeals Board

A workers’ compensation judge (WCJ) awarded disability and vocational rehabilitation benefits to respondent Ken Ryerson (Ryerson). At Ryerson’s request, the WCJ amended the award to correctly state the names of the parties and to increase the amount awarded. Employer Nestlé Ice Cream Company, LLC (Nestlé), filed a petition for reconsideration before the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board (Board) that was timely as to the amended award, but untimely as to the original award. The Board dismissed the petition as untimely.

When an award is amended by the WCJ before a petition for reconsideration is filed, the time for seeking reconsideration runs from the date of the original order when the amendment is clerical in nature. When the amendment effects a substantial or material change in the award or involves the exercise of a judicial function or judicial discretion, the time runs instead from the date of the amended order. In this case, the WCJ’s amendment effected a substantial and material change in the award and amounted to a judicial act, rather than the mere correction of a clerical error. We annul the Board’s order dismissing the petition for reconsideration as…