PanelGranted in Part
Cochran, Richard
RICHARD COCHRAN, Applicant vs. ERICSSON, INC.; CHUBB, administered by CONSTITUTION STATE SERVICES, Defendants
- ADJ number
- ADJ12190515
- Decision date
- Dec 28, 2023
- District office
- Anaheim
- WCJ
- —
- Claim administrator
- Constitution State Services (administering for Chubb)
- Commissioners
- JOSÉ H. RAZO, COMMISSIONER, LISA A. SUSSMAN, DEPUTY COMMISSIONER, KATHERINE A. ZALEWSKI, CHAIR
Injury / body parts: spine, lower extremities, bowel, bladder, psyche, sexual dysfunction, lungs
LC §4659LC §4453LC §4610LC §4610.5LC §4610.6LC §4600LC §5402LC §5307.27CCR §10955CCR §9792.9.1CCR §9792.7CCR §9792.11CCR §9792.12CCR §9792.13CCR §9792.14CCR §9792.15
Summary
Applicant Richard Cochran sustained an admitted injury on April 19, 2019. The WCJ issued an F&A allowing applicant to depose both the UR physician, Dr. Lisa Pitino, regarding whether she actually performed the utilization review, and the person most knowledgeable (PMK) at Ericsson regarding applicant's earnings and earning capacity. Defendant filed a Petition for Removal claiming prejudice and irreparable harm. The Board treated the petition as one for reconsideration because the F&A contained a threshold AOE/COE finding, but applied the removal standard since only interlocutory discovery findings were challenged. The Board rescinded Finding of Fact No. 2 allowing the deposition of Dr. Pitino, holding there was no legal basis to depose a UR physician to validate whether she performed the UR, but affirmed the order allowing the deposition of the PMK on earnings/earning capacity because section 4453(c)(4) was at issue.
Issues
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Holding
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Analysis
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Applicant takeaway
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Defense takeaway
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Provider takeaway
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