Nong Shim Foods; United States Fire Insurance Terresa Cuson WORKERS’ COMPENSATION APPEALS BOARDSTATE OF CALIFORNIATERRESA CUSON, Applicant,vs.NONG SHIM FOODS; UNITED STATESFIRE INSURANCE, Defendant(s).Case No. ADJ4003762 (MON 0356871)OPINION AND ORDER DENYING PETITION FOR REMOVAL Applicant has filed a timely, verified petition for removal, requesting that the appeals board rescind the Order dated April 28, 2010, wherein the workers’ compensation administrative law judge (WCJ) ordered applicant to attend a medical examination by Peter Sofia, M.D., on August 3, 2010. Applicant contends that Dr. Sofia is a panel qualified medical evaluator (QME) pursuant to Labor Code section 40601 and that the examination is barred by Administrative Director Rule 30(d)(3) (Cal. Code Regs., tit. 8, § 30(d)(3)). We have received an answer from defendant. Applicant claims to have sustained an industrial cumulative trauma injury between June 11, 2007, and January 3, 2008. Defendant denied the injury on February 28, 2008. Thereafter, defendant requested and received a pane] of QMEs. Rule 30(d)(3) provides: “Whenever an injury or illness claim of an employee has been denied entirely by the claims administrator. . ., only the employee may request a panel of Qualified Medical Evaluators, as provided in Labor Code sections … 4060(c) and 4062.2 if represented.” 1 Unless otherwise specified, all statutory references are to the Labor Code. , On June 3, 2010, the appeals board issued an en banc decision in Mendoza v. Huntington Hospital 75 Cal.Comp.Cases _. We held in relevant part that “AD Rule 30(d)(3) is invalid because it conflicts with sections 4060(c) and 4062.2 and exceeds the scope of section 5402(b). Neither section 4060 nor section 4062.2 provides that ‘only the employee may request’ a QME panel after an employer has denied the compensability of a claimed injury. To the contrary, those sections when read together specifically provide that ‘e
