Vicente Ortiz — ADJ10649985

Applicant Vicente Ortiz alleged injury from an assault while doing building maintenance/plumbing at a property owned by Victor Mazariego, who held a homeowner's insurance policy with First American Specialty Insurance that included workers' compensation coverage for residential employees. First American denied coverage, arguing Ortiz did not meet the threshold hour-requirement to qualify as a residential employee, and sought dismissal of itself while declining to represent its insured Mazariego. The WCJ issued an Order requiring First American to provide independent 'Cumis' counsel to separately represent Mazariego based on good cause. First American sought removal or reconsideration. The Board treated the petition as one for reconsideration, found the Cumis order was a final order, but rescinded it because there was an insufficient evidentiary record to evaluate whether a conflict of interest under Civil Code section 2860(b) existed or whether good cause supported the order, and returned the matter to the WCJ for further proceedings.