Diaz, Anabel

Applicant Anabel Diaz sustained a low back injury on February 1, 2018, while working as a social worker for the County of San Bernardino, and received a stipulated Award on September 27, 2022. On February 1, 2023 (the last day of the five-year period under Labor Code section 5410), she filed both an Amended Application for Adjudication adding multiple body parts and a Petition to Reopen, the latter filed in EAMS at 5:00:03 PM and thus deemed filed February 2, 2023 (one day late) under WCAB Rule 10615(b). The WCJ dismissed the Petition to Reopen after applicant failed to object to a Notice of Intention. The WCAB majority agreed the Petition to Reopen was untimely but held the timely-filed Amended Application—which alleged new body parts plus temporary and permanent disability disputes—was sufficient under liberal pleading principles to invoke the Board's continuing jurisdiction under section 5410. The majority rescinded the dismissal order and remanded for further proceedings; Commissioner Razo dissented.