Albertsons, Inc.; Permissibly Self- Insured, Administered By Specialty Risk Services Josephine Stoffel WORKERS’ COMPENSATION APPEALS BOARD STATE OF CALIFORNIAJOSEPHINE STOFFEL,Applicant,vs. ALBERTSONS, INC.; Permissibly Self-Insured, Administered By SPECIALTY RISKSERVICES,Defendant(s). Case No. ADJ4078103 (GOL 0098402)OPINION AND ORDER GRANTINGPETITION FOR RECONSIDERATIONAND DECISION AFTER RECONSIDERATION Appjicant seeks rcconsider.ilion of the May 26, 2010 findings of Fact issued by a workers* compensation administrative law judge (WCJ) wherein the WCJ again found that “[defendant’s request for a new panel QMEP1 is denied” and that H[d)defendents is allowed to select its own QME.” (Footnote added.) The WCJ had previously made similar findings in his October l, 2009 decision which we rescinded in our December 28, 2009 Decision After Reconsideration and returned for further proceedings. Applicant’s underlying claim is for an admitted industrial injury to her bilateral wrists and hands (applicant’s Petition for Reconsideration, 6/17/10, at p. 2; defendant’s letter to the Panel QME, dated 9/7/07 (Applicant’s Exhibit 7 [contained in the Board’s file, but not entered in the Electronic Adjudication Management System (FAMS)J) or bilateral wrists and left hand (defendant’s Answer, 7/2/10, at p. 1) while employed as a service deli clerk on March 12, 2004. Applicant contends that the WCJ erred in finding that defendant could choose its own QME. Applicant argues that Labor Code section 40672 does not apply to allow a change of QMEs in this matter and that there can be no situations here where both a panel QME and a separate defense QME perform medical-legal evaluations of applicant. 1Qualified Medical Evaluator2 All further statutory references are to the Labor Code unless otherwise stated. , In its July 2, 2010 Answer, defendant contends that section 4062.2 cannot apply here based on applicant’s dale of injury (which is prior to January 1, 2
