City Of Tracy, permissibly self-insured, administered by Acclamation Insurance Management Services Insurance, Kurt Saalfeld, WORKERS’ COMPENSATION APPEALS BOARDSTATE OF CALIFORNIAKURT SAALFELD,Applicant,vs.CITY OF TRACY, permissibly self-insured, administered by ACCLAMATION INSURANCE MANAGEMENT SERVICES INSURANCE,Defendants.Case No. ADJ10321614(Stockton District Office)OPINION AND ORDER DENYING PETITION FOR REMOVAL Applicant seeks removal of the Findings and Order (F&O) issued by the workers’ compensation administrative law judge (WCJ) on July 31, 2017. By the F&O, the WCJ found in pertinent part that applicant is not entitled to a replacement qualified medical evaluator (QME) panel. Applicant contends that he timely objected to defendant’s proposed letter to the QME by email and that the WCJ erred in denying his request for a replacement panel despite defendant’s service of said letter to the QME. We received an answer from defendant. The WCJ filed a Report and Recommendation on Petition for Removal (Report) recommending that we deny removal. We have considered the allegations of applicant’s Petition for Removal, defendant’s answer and the contents of the WCJ’s Report with respect thereto. Based on our review of the record, and for the reasons stated in the WCJ’s Report and discussed below, we will deny removal.FACTUAL BACKGROUND Applicant claims injury to his left thumb, left hand, left fingers, left upper extremity, dental, head and nervous system on January 27, 2016 while employed as a peace officer for the City of Tracy. The parties obtained a QME panel in occupational medicine and James Lessenger, M.D., was the resulting physician from this panel. On April 22, 2016, defendant mailed and faxed applicant a proposed letter to Dr. Lessenger. (Board’s Exhibit X, Letter dated April 22, 2016 with the attached proposed letter , to the QME, April 22, 2016.) Applicant purportedly objected to this lett
