Sternberg, Lili

An uninsured defendant, Westwood Sephardic Educational Center, petitioned for reconsideration of a March 29, 2024 Order Approving Compromise and Release (Dependency) settling a death benefits claim with the Uninsured Employers Benefits Trust Fund (UEBTF), arguing it never received notice of the March 28, 2024 MSC and was thereby denied due process. The WCAB found that the Notice of Hearing and underlying order were properly served by mail to defendant's address of record (P.O. Box 7385, Beverly Hills), the same address where a prior NOI was received and prompted an objection. Applying the Evidence Code section 641 presumption that a correctly addressed and properly mailed letter is received, the Board held defendant offered no believable contrary evidence to rebut the presumption. The Board further adopted the WCJ's Report finding that, under the doctrine of invited error, an uninsured defendant with proper notice who fails to appear is estopped from claiming prejudicial error. The Petition for Reconsideration was denied.