Vargas, Porfirio

Lien claimant First Choice Doctors Medical Group, Inc., dba Surgery Center of the Canyon, filed two separate liens under different fictitious business names (the other being dba First Choice Orthopedics and Spine Institute) arising from the same underlying claim of applicant Porfirio Vargas. The WCJ dismissed the Surgery Center of the Canyon lien with prejudice for failure to pay a separate lien activation fee under Labor Code section 4903.06(a)(4). The Board granted reconsideration and rescinded the F&O because the WCJ dismissed the lien without issuing a notice of intent and without creating an evidentiary record (no exhibits were admitted at trial), precluding meaningful appellate review. The Board also signaled that dismissing a lien due to filing under different fictitious business names, where both liens share the same applicant, employer, insurer, and underlying claim, is questionable under principles favoring adjudication on the merits. The matter was returned to the trial level for further proceedings.