Opinion
Santa Barbara District Office
OPINION AND ORDER DISMISSING PETITION FOR RECONSIDERATION
PATRICIA A. GARCIA, DEPUTY COMMISSIONER.
The Petition for Reconsideration of the decision issued on April 1, 2021 has been withdrawn by petitioner. Therefore, it will be dismissed.
Preliminarily, we note that the Appeals Board has 60 days from the filing of a petition for reconsideration to act on that petition. (Lab. Code, § 5909.) Defendant's Petition was timely filed on April 23, 2021. However, the Petition did not come to the attention of the Appeals Board until after the expiration of the statutory time period. Consistent with fundamental principles of due process, therefore, and in keeping with common sensibilities, we are persuaded, under these circumstances, that the running of the 60-day statutory period for reviewing and acting upon a petition for reconsideration begins no earlier than the Appeals Board's actual notice of the petition for reconsideration. (See Shipley v. Workers' Comp. Appeals Bd. (1992) 7 Cal.App.4th 1104 [57 Cal.Comp.Cases 493]; State Farm Fire and Casualty v. Workers' Comp. Appeals Bd. (Felts) (1981) 119 Cal.App.3d 193 [46 Cal.Comp.Cases 622].) In this case, the Appeals Board received actual notice of the Petition for Reconsideration on August 9, 2021, making this decision timely.
For the foregoing reasons,
IT IS ORDERED that the Petition for Reconsideration is DISMISSED.
I CONCUR,
KATHERINE A. ZALEWSKI, CHAIR, ANNE SCHMITZ, DEPUTY COMMISSIONER