Cal. Code Regs. Tit. 8, § 10430 - Vexatious Litigants
(a) For
purposes of this rule, "vexatious litigant" means:
(1) A party who, while acting in propria
persona in proceedings before the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board,
repeatedly relitigates, or attempts to relitigate, an issue of law or fact that
has been finally determined against that party by the Workers' Compensation
Appeals Board or by an appellate court;
(2) A party who, while acting in propria
persona in proceedings before the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board,
repeatedly files unmeritorious motions, pleadings or other papers, repeatedly
conducts or attempts to conduct unnecessary discovery, or repeatedly engages in
other tactics that are in bad faith, are frivolous or are solely intended to
cause harassment or unnecessary delay; or
(3) A party who has previously been declared
to be a vexatious litigant by any state or federal court of record in any
action or proceeding based upon the same or substantially similar facts,
transaction(s) or occurrence(s) that are the subject, in whole or in
substantial part, of the party's workers' compensation case.
For purposes of this rule, the phrase "finally determined" shall mean:
(i) That all
appeals have been exhausted or the time for seeking appellate review has
expired; and
(ii) The time for
reopening under Labor Code sections
5410 or
5803 and
5804 has passed
or, although the time for reopening under those sections has not passed, there
is no good faith and non-frivolous basis for
reopening.
(b)
Upon the petition of a party, or upon the motion of any workers' compensation
judge or the Appeals Board, a presiding workers' compensation judge of any
district office having venue or the Appeals Board may declare a party to be a
vexatious litigant.
(c) No party
shall be declared a vexatious litigant without being given notice and an
opportunity to be heard. If a hearing is requested, the presiding workers'
compensation judge or the Appeals Board, in their discretion, either may take
and consider both oral and documentary evidence or may take and consider solely
documentary evidence, including affidavits or other written declarations of
fact made under penalty of perjury.
(d) If a party is declared to be a vexatious
litigant, a presiding workers' compensation judge or the Appeals Board may
enter a "prefiling order," i.e., an order which prohibits the vexatious
litigant from filing, in propria persona, any Application for Adjudication of
Claim, Declaration of Readiness to Proceed, petition or other request for
action by the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board without first obtaining leave
of the presiding workers' compensation judge of the district office where the
request for action is proposed to be filed or, if the matter is pending before
the Appeals Board on a petition for reconsideration, removal or
disqualification, without first obtaining leave from the Appeals Board. For
purposes of this rule, a "petition" shall include, but not be limited to, a
petition to reopen under Labor Code sections
5410,
5803 and
5804, a
petition to enforce a medical treatment award, a penalty petition or any other
petition seeking to enforce or expand the vexatious litigant's previously
determined rights.
(e) If a
vexatious litigant proposes to file, in propria persona, any Application for
Adjudication of Claim, Declaration of Readiness to Proceed, petition or other
request for action by the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board, the request for
action shall be conditionally filed. Thereafter, the presiding workers'
compensation judge, or the Appeals Board if the petition is for
reconsideration, removal or disqualification, shall deem the request for action
to have been properly filed only if it appears that the request for action has
not been filed in violation of subdivision (a). In determining whether the
vexatious litigant's request for action has not been filed in violation of
subdivision (a), the presiding workers' compensation judge, or the Appeals
Board, shall consider the contents of the request for action and the Workers'
Compensation Appeals Board's existing record of proceedings, as well as any
other documentation that, in its discretion, the presiding workers'
compensation judge or the Appeals Board asks to be submitted. Among the factors
that the presiding workers' compensation judge or the Appeals Board may
consider is whether there has been a significant change in circumstances (such
as new or newly discovered evidence or a change in the law) that might
materially affect an issue of fact or law that was previously finally
determined against the vexatious litigant.
(f) If any in propria persona Application for
Adjudication of Claim, Declaration of Readiness to proceed, petition or other
request for action by the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board from a vexatious
litigant subject to a prefiling order is inadvertently accepted for filing
(other than conditional filing in accordance with subdivision (e) above), then
any other party may file (and shall concurrently serve on the vexatious
litigant and any other affected parties) a notice stating that the request for
action is being submitted by a vexatious litigant subject to a prefiling order
as set forth in subdivision (d). The filing of the notice shall automatically
stay the request for action until it is determined, in accordance with
subdivision (e), whether the request for action should be deemed to have been
properly filed.
(g) A copy of any
prefiling order issued by a presiding workers' compensation judge or by the
Appeals Board shall be submitted to the Secretary of the Appeals Board, who
shall maintain a record of vexatious litigants subject to those prefiling
orders and who shall annually disseminate a list of those persons to all
presiding workers' compensation judges.
Notes
2. Repealer of former section 10430 and renumbering of former section 10782 to section 10430, including amendment of section and NOTE, filed 12-17-2019; operative 1-1-2020. Submitted to OAL for printing only pursuant to Government Code section 11351 (Register 2019, No. 51).
Note: Authority cited: Sections 133, 5307, 5309 and 5708, Labor Code. Reference: Article XIV, section 4, California Constitution; Sections 5410, 5803 and 5804, Labor Code; and Sections 391, 391.2 and 391.7, Code of Civil Procedure.
2. Repealer of former section 10430 and renumbering of former section 10782 to section 10430, including amendment of section and Note, filed 12-17-2019; operative
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