WCDefenseCA

So, dear readers, ready for another victory-lap case over the lien claimants?

Last week, we discussed the case of Soto v. Marathon Industries, Inc., in which the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board found that a lien claimant’s failure to pay the lien filing fee required by Labor Code section 4903.06(a)(4) at the time of the hearing (including two hours after the hearing is scheduled to start), necessitates a dismissal of that lien with prejudice.

The Sharon Meyer v. Target Corporation case didn’t turn out all that different.  In that case, a lien claimant sought reconsideration of the dismissal of its lien after the lien conference had come and gone.  In this case, the lien claimant paid the lien filing fee a week later, but that didn’t seem to help.

This panel of commissioners again held that “under Labor Code section 4903.06, subdivision (a)(4), the WCJ was required to dismiss [the lien claimant’s] lien with prejudice.” (Emphasis belongs to your humble blogger, exclusively.)

In other words, Soto was not a fluke and we can expect spring cleaning of the liens in the workers’ compensation system.  The holding in this case and in Soto provides a pretty thick broom with which to do the job.