In this case, Noe Vega, an employee of Taco Bell, filed an application for adjudication of a claim alleging an industrial injury to his back and right knee. Taco Bell requested an expedited hearing to determine the employee’s entitlement to medical treatment and temporary disability indemnity payments. The Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board granted Taco Bell’s petition for removal and ordered an expedited hearing to resolve the dispute over the employee’s entitlement to medical treatment and the employer’s right to control that medical treatment for injured workers enrolled in a Health Care Organization (HCO) plan.
Taco Bell; California Indemnity Insurance Company Noe Vega WORKERS’ COMPENSATION APPEALS BOARDSTATE OF CALIFORNIANOE VEGA, Applicant,Vs.TACO BELL; CALIFORNIA INDEMNITY INSURANCE COMPANY, Defendant(s). Case No. VNO 458318ORDER VACATING ORDER GRANTING RECONSIDERATION,OPINION AND ORDER GRANTING REMOVAL AND DECISION AFTER REMOVAL This case presents the issue of whether a defendant is entitled to an expedited hearing under Labor Code § 5502(b)(1) on the issue of an applicant’s entitlement to medical treatment when it is asserted that the applicant has refused to accept treatment from an employer selected physician under a Health Care Organization (HCO) agreement pursuant to Labor Code section 4600.31. We hold that an expedited hearing shall be set on a defendant’s Declaration of Readiness to Proceed to Expedited Hearing under Section 5502(b) where the issue of a defendant’s right to medical control within the scope of Section 4600.3, and concomitantly, an applicant’s entitleme
