WCDefenseCA

Happy Wednesday, dear readers! As we are just on the cusp of another one of those major holidays, Thanksgiving to be precise, your humble blogger thought it might be useful to answer that question rooted deep, deep in your heart.

Can you, in good faith, enjoy Thanksgiving tomorrow, if there are deadlines to be met?  Can you live out your Fight Club fantasies during the Black Friday store rush when you might have to file something that day?

Time for another holiday post! 

Thanksgiving is a day that that we take to celebrate all that is good in life.  Often enough, we lose sight of the fact that there is a whole lot to be thankful for.  Thanksgiving is one of those days that we are reminded of it. 

So, is Thanksgiving a “holiday” in the sense that all legal deadlines are extended to the next business day?  Or is it a “holiday” in the same sense that your humble blogger’s birthday is a holiday… a day which is great but no one seems to acknowledge as pretty awesome?

Well, Government code 6700(a)(16)(A) seems to hold Thanksgiving as a holiday.  Government Code 19853(a) not only holds Thanksgiving as a holiday, but the day after Thanksgiving as a holiday as well.  The California Supreme Court likewise acknowledges both Thanksgiving and the day after Thanksgiving as holidays, as does California Code of Civil Procedure section 135.

How does the WCAB approach this?  Well, in Pa’u v. Department of Forestry, a significant panel decision from 2018, the WCAB relied on the list of “Holidays” in Government Code 6700 to conclude that the day after Thanksgiving is a “working day.”

To your humble blogger’s mind at least, Thanksgiving should be treated as a holiday which extends the deadlines for filing and panel requests by one day.  The day after Thanksgiving, however, should not, and if your deadline fell on Thanksgiving or the day after, you should probably take action by that day to avoid the likely consequences.

Your humble blogger wishes you a safe and health Thanksgiving dear readers, full of joy, reflection, and hearty feasting!

Happy Monday dear readers!

Of course, it’s not just Monday, is it?  In fact, it’s Columbus Day in many parts of the country.  However, if we were to look at the Rules of Court holidays, Columbus day is noticeably absent.  Of course, comparing the Court Holidays to years prior, Columbus day was a holiday as late as 2021.

By contrast, California Government Code 6700, lists Columbus Day as a holiday.  Columbus Day was

Typically, whenever any deadline falls on a “holiday” that deadline is extended to the next non-holiday, non-Saturday, non-Sunday.  But what about Columbus day?

Less than a year ago, your humble blogger brought you the panel decision in Vanlandingham v. American Services & Products, Inc., which ruled that since the WCAB was open for filing on Columbus day, the deadline to file was not extended by one day. 

So, what’s the answer, dear readers?  Should Columbus Day extend filing deadlines until Tuesday?  As discussed in this prior blog post, the answer is no.  Government Code section 19853 does not list Columbus Day as one of those holidays where state employees are off work.  Accordingly, if you have anything due today, I suggest you roll up your proverbial sleeves and start working away, as 5pm will be here before you know it and your deadline will be blown!

For those of my beloved readers lucky enough to enjoy today as a day off from work, I urge you to enjoy the wonderful weather and the time spent away from our beloved swamp of workers’ compensation. 

Every lien claimant knowingly providing treatment UR denied, every applicant attorney demanding sanctions because there were only 50 tissues in his client’s tissue box instead of 52, and every shameless defense attorney such as your humble blogger pestering you for authority to take the SJDB Voucher dispute all the way to the California Supreme Court will be waiting for you come Tuesday.  You may as well enjoy the sort-of holiday of Columbus Day while you still can.

Until the next time, dear readers!