“I am glad and so very pleased...she made happen what no other attorney could do. So far she has proven her weight in gold.”
Jamal Sharples
Palmdale
✦ Board-Certified Specialist in Workers’ Compensation Law — State Bar of California ✦
Bad ruling? We take your case to the next level — Reconsideration, Writ of Review, and beyond.
By Eman Yazdchi, Esq. · Certified Specialist in Workers' Compensation Law
When a workers' compensation judge at the Bakersfield WCAB issues a decision that undervalues your claim, denies benefits you deserve, or applies the law incorrectly, you have the right to appeal. Under Labor Code section 5900, any party aggrieved by a WCAB decision can file a Petition for Reconsideration — the formal appeals mechanism in California's workers' comp system. For Tehachapi workers injured on the Tehachapi Pass wind farms or at California Correctional Institution, an unfavorable decision at the Bakersfield WCAB does not have to be the final word.
The appeals process is governed by strict deadlines and procedural requirements under LC section 5903. You have only 25 days from the date of service of the judge's decision to file your Petition for Reconsideration with the WCAB Appeals Board in San Francisco. Missing this deadline by even one day forfeits your appeal right entirely. The petition must identify specific legal errors — insufficient evidence, misapplication of the permanent disability rating schedule, improper apportionment, or procedural violations — and articulate why the decision should be reversed or modified.
Attorney Eman Yazdchi's firm handles workers' comp appeals for Tehachapi workers who received inadequate decisions at the Bakersfield WCAB. Whether the judge underrated your wind farm spinal injury, improperly apportioned your CCI assault claim, or denied your psychiatric injury based on flawed medical evidence, we build the appellate record that gives you the best chance of reversal. The appeals process is technically demanding, and having a certified specialist who understands both the substantive law and the procedural requirements is essential.
A Petition for Reconsideration is not a second trial. It is a legal brief that argues the workers' compensation judge made an error that affected the outcome of your case. Understanding the grounds, deadlines, and strategic considerations is critical for Tehachapi workers pursuing an appeal.
Under LC section 5903, you have 25 days from the date of service of the Findings and Award or other appealable order to file your Petition for Reconsideration. The date of service — not the date you received the decision — starts the clock. For Tehachapi workers receiving mail at mountain addresses, postal delays can consume several of those 25 days before you even see the decision. This is why having an attorney of record who receives electronic service and monitors deadlines is so important.
The petition must assert one or more of the statutory grounds for reconsideration:
The most common appealable errors in Tehachapi wind farm cases involve excessive apportionment (the judge accepting the insurer's argument that a large percentage of the spinal disability is pre-existing), undervalued PD ratings (the judge adopting a lower impairment rating than the medical evidence supports), and denied future medical care (the judge closing out medical treatment that a turbine technician will need for years). Each of these errors is correctable on reconsideration if the petition is properly drafted and supported.
CCI officer appeals frequently involve denied psychiatric injury claims where the judge accepted the insurer's personnel-action defense, inadequate combined ratings for officers with both physical and psychiatric injuries from the same assault, and improper apportionment to prior incidents when the officer has a history of multiple assaults at CCI. We argue that each successive assault is independently compensable and that apportioning to prior industrial injuries — rather than to non-industrial causes — violates the principles established in case law.
Injured at work in Tehachapi? Call (661) 273-1780
Tap to call →Tehachapi workers' comp decisions are initially issued by judges at the Bakersfield WCAB. The Petition for Reconsideration is reviewed by the WCAB Appeals Board commissioners in San Francisco. If reconsideration is denied, further appeal goes to the California Court of Appeal via a Writ of Review.
The WCAB Appeals Board reviews the written record from the Bakersfield WCAB trial — they do not hold new hearings or take new testimony. The petition and answer briefs are the primary advocacy tools. The Board can affirm, reverse, modify, or return the case to the trial judge for further proceedings. Strong written advocacy is essential.
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