Mora, Rosalva

Applicant's attorney filed a Declaration for Peremptory Challenge on March 24, 2023, which the Board treated as a Petition for Disqualification of the WCJ, alleging bias against the applicant and her law firm. The WCJ noted that applicant's counsel had already exercised a valid peremptory challenge under CCR 10788 at the December 6, 2021 MSC, which remained effective, making the new petition duplicative and unnecessary. The WCJ further found the disqualification petition unsupported, as it rested only on counsel's subjective belief of bias without objective evidence. The Board adopted and incorporated the WCJ's report and denied the Petition for Disqualification, directing that upon return the matter be set before a different WCJ pursuant to the still-effective peremptory challenge.