Rojas, Benjamin

Defendant Employers Outsourcing, LLC, an illegally uninsured employer administered by Prime Administrators, filed a petition for removal from a WCJ's October 21, 2025 order setting the matter for trial on the issue of judicial sanctions. The WCJ had issued a notice of intent to impose sanctions after defendant apparently failed to properly identify itself as an illegally uninsured employer in appearances before the Board. Defendant argued that because the case settled via Compromise and Release, the sanctions issue was moot, and alleged the WCJ had prejudged the matter. The Board held that judicial sanctions cannot be waived by private agreement (Civ. Code § 3513), that the bias claim was procedurally defective for lack of a timely and verified petition for disqualification under WCAB Rule 10960, and that no sanctions order had yet issued—only a notice of intent. The Board denied removal, leaving the matter set for trial to create a record on whether sanctions should issue and in what amount.