WCAB

The applicant and real party in interest, Robert Gaona (Gaona), claimed industrial injury and filed a workers’ compensation claim. Following the circulation of a medical report, his employer, petitioner Capital Builders Hardware, Inc. (Capital Builders), objected to the admissibility of the report and requested that it be stricken. The workers’ compensation judge (WCJ) denied Capital Builders’ motions “without prejudice.” Capital Builders appealed the decision of the WCJ to the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board (appeals board) by filing a petition for removal and a petition for reconsideration. The appeals board dismissed and denied those petitions.

Capital Builders now seeks writ review in the Court of Appeal. At issue is whether the appeals board’s order is reviewable. We conclude that it is not. It is well established that a petition for writ of review may be sought only from a final order or decision of the appeals board. (Fab. Code, §§ 5900, 5901 ; Maranian v. Workers’ Comp. Appeals Bd. (2000) 81 Cal.App.4th 1068, 1074 [ 97 Cal.Rptr.2d 418 ] (Maranian).) Here, the appeals board’s order is not final. To the extent Alvarez v. Workers’ Comp. Appeals Bd. (2010) 187…