Bebe Famrs, Inc.; State Compensation Insurance Fund Dina Villareal WORKERS’ COMPENSATION APPEALS BOARDSTATE OF CALIFORNIADINA VILLAREAL, Applicant,vs.BEBE FARMS, INC.; STATECOMPENSATION INSURANCE FUND, Defendants.Case No. ADJ1252927 (GRO 0027206) (San Luis Obispo District Office)OPINION AND ORDER DENYING RECONSIDERATION Defendant, newly aggrieved, seeks reconsideration of our January 22, 2013 Opinion and Order Granting Reconsideration and Decision After Reconsideration. Therein, we granted applicant’s Petition for Reconsideration of the WCJ’s November 14, 2012 Findings and Award, rescinded that decision, and substitute it with a new Findings and Award finding applicant 100% permanently disabled. Defendant contends that we erred in finding 100% permanent disability arguing that the opinion of vocational expert Ann Wallace, Ph.D., is not substantial evidence. Defendant further requests that we remand this case to the trial level for further development of the record. Applicant filed an Answer. We did not receive a report and recommendation on petition for reconsideration from the WCJ. Based on our review of the record and for the reasons stated in our January 22, 2013 Opinion and Order Granting Reconsideration and Decision After Reconsideration, which we incorporate herein, and for the reasons discussed below, we deny reconsideration. Parties to a workers’ compensation proceeding must act timely to develop the record when there is such a need. Labor Code section 5502 expressly provides that, “[d]iscovery shall close on the date of the mandatory settlement conference.” This is not merely an advisement. It is a substantive part of the workers’ compensation process. (County of Sacramento v. Workers’ Comp. Appeals Bd. (Estrada) (1999) 68 Cal.App.4th 1429 [64 Cal.Comp.Cases 26]; San Bernardino Community Hospital v. Workers’ , Comp. Appeals Bd. (McKernan) (1999) 74 Cal.App.4th 928 [64 Cal.Comp.Cases 986]; County of S
