Kroger Co. v. Workers' Compensation Appeals Board

The Rehabilitation Unit of the Division of Workers’ Compensation (Rehabilitation Unit) awarded an injured employee a vocational rehabilitation maintenance allowance on November 7, 2007. The employer, *955 The Kroger Co. (Kroger), through its adjuster, Sedgwick CMS (Sedgwick), filed its notice of appeal on November 27, 2007. However, the workers’ compensation administrative law judge (WCJ) and the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board (WCAB) concluded that the appeal had not been perfected because Sedgwick had not also filed a “Declaration of Readiness to Proceed,” a document which we describe more fully below.

Whether the appeal was perfected is crucial to the parties herein. As we explain in our opinion, the vocational rehabilitation program was repealed as of January 1, 2009. If an appeal of a decision of the Rehabilitation Unit was still pending as of January 1, 2009, that decision, not being final, could not be enforced after that date. On the other hand, if a decision of the Rehabilitation Unit entered prior to January 1, 2009, was final (and was not on appeal) before that date, the award is enforceable.

We conclude that the “Declaration of Readiness to Proceed” was…