A recent appellate case, City and County of San Francisco v. WCAB (Wagner), has shown that even appellate law sometimes recognizes substance over procedure.
While the issue in the case was yet another "old" versus "new" rating schedule dispute (Labor Code Section 4660(d)), of interest is the way the case was procedurally handled.
After losing at the trial level, the defendant filed a Petition for Writ of Review with the First District Court of Appeal. Unfortunately, it forgot to have the petition verified.
The First District summarily denied the petition for that reason.
Well, for those who have ever made such an error (and immediately began searching for the malpractice declarations page), this case offers at least a glimmer of hope should you ever again find yourself in such a predicament.
Two weeks after the summary denial, the defendant filed a request for re-hearing which prompted the appellate court to file the unverified petition with the Supreme Court, asking if it (the Supreme Court) thought the underlying issue on appeal warranted that it be heard despite this fatal flaw (lack of verification).
And two weeks later, lo and behold, the Supreme Court agreed, granting review and ordering that the appeal be heard on its merits by the appellate court!
To read a summary of the actions taken by the Court of Appeal and then the Supreme Court,
PLEASE CLICK HERE.
- Help for the Injured Worker
