WCDefenseCA

Happy Monday my beloved readers!

Many of us grew up with today being Columbus Day, and being a holiday to boot.  However, over the years various levels of government have purposed the day as Indigenous Peoples’ Day. 

The California Courts still observe Columbus day as a holiday on Monday, October 11, but California does not. 

So dear readers, as we all know, when the last day to perform an act falls on a holiday, the deadline is extended by one day.  If that last day is today, does the deadline get extended?

Well, I would direct my beloved readers to the panel decision of Bernard v. Chris Johns, DDS, a 2009 decision that a petition for reconsideration was untimely, noting “although Monday, October 12, 2009, was Columbus Day, the WCAB was open for filing” citing Gov. Code 19853, which listed holidays for state employees but did not include Columbus Day. 

Prior panel decision, including Turner v. City of Eureka (2008) and South v. City of Grover Beach (2007) acknowledged Columbus Day as a holiday and extended the deadline to file for the day after Columbus Day.  Of course, Gov. Code section 19853 went into effect in 2009 which might be the reason for the shift.  Despite this, Gov. Code section 6700 still lists Columbus Day as a holiday.

So, despite the Supreme Court setting out rules acknowledging Columbus Day as a holiday, this does not appear to apply to the WCAB and we should all be aware of the same.  Further, practitioners would be well advised to confirm that what appears to be a generally accepted holiday is a holiday for the WCAB in particular to avoid blowing a deadline.  While California stubbornly and irrationally refuses to recognize my birthday as Humble Blogger Day, your humble blogger has to continue to labor even when, by all rights, everyone should be celebrating.

See you on Wednesday dear readers!