“Eman by far exceeds the basic requirements other lawyers give to clients and surpasses all expectations.”
Briana Norman
✦ Board-Certified Specialist in Workers’ Compensation Law — State Bar of California ✦
A denial is not the end. It’s the beginning of our fight for your benefits.
By Eman Yazdchi, Esq. · Certified Specialist in Workers' Compensation Law
A denial letter from a workers' comp insurance company is not the end of your claim — it is the beginning of a process that favors injured workers who fight back with legal representation. Insurance companies deny Lancaster workers' comp claims every day, and many of those denials are improper, procedurally defective, or based on flawed medical opinions. The adjusters issuing these denials are counting on you to give up. Most unrepresented workers do. That is exactly why insurers deny claims aggressively — it saves them money.
We see denied claims from every corner of Lancaster's economy: solar farm workers along Avenue I whose heat illness claims are dismissed as "personal health conditions," BYD Motors factory workers on Lancaster Boulevard told their repetitive-stress injuries are "pre-existing," construction laborers on the east side whose falls are labeled "horseplay," and Antelope Valley Hospital employees on 25th Street West whose cumulative back injuries are attributed to "degenerative aging." The denials sound different, but the strategy behind them is the same — shift blame away from the workplace and onto the worker.
Our firm at 1125 W Avenue M-14 in Palmdale fights denied claims at the Van Nuys WCAB. Attorney Eman Yazdchi's board certification in workers' compensation law means we know the procedural tools, evidentiary standards, and litigation strategies that overturn improper denials. A denied claim is a setback, not a defeat.
Understanding why your claim was denied is the first step toward reversing that decision. Insurance companies rely on a limited set of denial strategies, each of which has a specific legal counter. Here are the most common denial reasons we encounter in Lancaster cases and how we challenge them.
Under LC §5402, if the insurance company does not issue a formal denial within 90 days of receiving your completed DWC-1 claim form, your injury is presumed compensable. This presumption shifts the burden entirely to the insurer to prove your injury is not work-related — an extremely difficult standard to meet. We audit every denied Lancaster claim to verify whether the insurer met the 90-day deadline. When they missed it, the denial collapses regardless of the stated reason.
When informal resolution fails, we take your denied claim to hearing at the Van Nuys WCAB. The process follows a structured path:
Even after your claim is accepted, insurers can deny specific medical treatments through Utilization Review (UR) under LC §4610. If your treating doctor requests surgery, an MRI, physical therapy, or medication, the insurer's UR physician can deny the request as "not medically necessary." We challenge UR denials through the Independent Medical Review (IMR) process, where an independent physician reviews the medical evidence and issues a binding decision. IMR overturns UR denials in a significant percentage of cases, especially when the treating doctor provides detailed documentation.
Injured at work in Lancaster? Call (661) 273-1780
Tap to call →All denied Lancaster workers' comp claims are litigated at the Van Nuys WCAB at 6150 Van Nuys Blvd. This office handles Declarations of Readiness, Mandatory Settlement Conferences, and Trials. Our firm appears before Van Nuys judges regularly and understands the evidentiary standards each judge applies.
There is no strict deadline to challenge a workers' comp denial, but acting quickly is critical. Medical evidence degrades over time, witnesses become unavailable, and the insurer has no obligation to pay benefits during the dispute period. Contact an attorney as soon as you receive a denial letter to begin building your case for the Van Nuys WCAB.
If your claim is denied, the insurer is not required to authorize ongoing treatment. However, if you filed a DWC-1 and the insurer denied after the 90-day window, the presumption of compensability under LC §5402 means treatment should continue. We intervene to ensure Lancaster workers receive medical care while their denied claims are being litigated.
Ready to discuss your case? Schedule a free consultation.
Schedule Free ConsultationRead more testimonials →“Eman by far exceeds the basic requirements other lawyers give to clients and surpasses all expectations.”