Keffer, Earnest

In a workers' compensation death claim alleging asbestos exposure, defendant Self Insurers' Security Fund (SISF) subpoenaed records from the law firm Brayton Purcell as custodian of decedent Earnest Keffer's records, including civil settlement documents from his pre-death personal injury asbestos lawsuit. The WCJ ordered applicants to produce the withheld settlement documents, finding they failed to meet their burden of proving attorney-client and work-product privilege. The Appeals Board treated applicants' petition for removal as one for reconsideration and granted it, rescinding the WCJ's decision. The Board held that SISF failed to make the required threshold showing that the confidential settlement documents—which involved decedent's non-applicant adult children's recovery—were relevant or would lead to relevant evidence under the privacy balancing test of Valley Bank v. Superior Court. The Board denied SISF's petition to compel.