Gonsalves, Lorraine

Applicant Lorraine Gonsalves, in pro per, filed a Petition for Removal, Petition for Reconsideration, and Petitions to Disqualify WCJ Brown and PWCJ Tempkin after the WCJ on August 5, 2025 converted an expedited hearing to a mandatory settlement conference and approved a stipulation cancelling a QME appointment pending determination of panel appropriateness. The Board dismissed the Petition for Reconsideration because the August 5 orders were interlocutory (not final or threshold) and the petition was skeletal, failing to state grounds or cite the record. The Board denied the Petition for Removal because applicant failed to show substantial prejudice or irreparable harm, particularly since the orders at issue were entered at the parties' own joint request and stipulation. The Board dismissed the Petitions for Disqualification because they did not set forth facts under penalty of perjury sufficient to establish bias or an unqualified fixed opinion under Code of Civil Procedure section 641. The Board also confirmed timely action under the amended Labor Code section 5909.