COUNTY OF SACRAMENTO, Permissibly Self-Insured, DOUGLAS BLIXT, WORKERS’ COMPENSATION APPEALS BOARDSTATE OF CALIFORNIADOUGLAS BLIXT, Applicant,vs.COUNTY OF SACRAMENTO, Permissibly Self-Insured, RECONSIDERATION Defendant(s).Case No. ADJ1412834 (SAC 0351373)OPINION AND ORDERS DENYING PETITION FOR REMOVAL; GRANTING PETITION FOR RECONSIDERATION AND DECISION AFTER RECONSIDERATION Defendant seeks reconsideration or removal following the January 5, 2009 Order of a workers’ compensation administrative law judge (WCJ) denying its petition for attorney’s fees and sanctions. The Minutes of Hearing of the January 5, 2009 expedited hearing contain the WCJ’s notation that the parties agreed to Barry Meskin, D.P.M., as a panel Qualified Medical Evaluator (QME) on all issues. The WCJ also stated that applicant will attend the February 20, 2009 evaluation, which resolved the petition to compel. In addition, the WCJ ordered that applicant’s petition for penalties and defendant’s petition for sanctions were denied. The WCJ also ordered that the panel QME agreement was approved. Defendant contends that the WCJ erred in denying its petition for sanctions and attorney’s fees, in which it requested its fees and expenses in hiring an attorney to represent it at the expedited hearing sought by applicant. Defendant argues that applicant’s request for an expedited hearing was improper as there was no bona fide dispute over medical treatment as alleged by applicant in his Declaration of Readiness to Proceed (DOR) to Expedited Hearing. Defendant further stated that at the January 5, 2009 hearing, the parties agreed that there was no expedited issue before the WCJ. Defendant further stated that its request for fees and sanctions was summarily denied at the expedited hearing. , In his “Report and Recommendation on Petition for Removal [sic]” (Report), the WCJ noted that he was not aware of any agreement between the parties that there was no expedited issue pre
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