COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES DECEMBER REGULATORY HEARINGS … · 2015-03-13 · 5 COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES 6 7 DECEMBER REGULATORY HEARINGS 8 RETURN-TO-WORK SUPPLEMENT PROGRAM 9 ... 13 of the

California Deposition Reporters Page: 1

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4 DEPARTMENT OF INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS

5 COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES

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7 DECEMBER REGULATORY HEARINGS

8 RETURN-TO-WORK SUPPLEMENT PROGRAM

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10 DECEMBER 9, 2014

11 DEPARTMENT OF INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS

12 320 WEST 4TH STREET, PUBLIC HEARING ROOM

13 LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA 90013

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21 APPEARANCES:

22 SPECIAL ADVISOR FOR DIRECTOR: TESS GORMLEY

23 COUNSEL FROM OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR: NATHAN D. SCHMIDT, ESQ

24 COURT REPORTER: CELINDA ALIGADA, CSR 13724

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1 P R O C E E D I N G S

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3 MS. GORMLEY: Good afternoon. Thank you for

4 coming today. I am Tess Gormley, special advisor to

5 the director of the Department of Industrial Relations,

6 and this is a public hearing for the Return-to-Work

7 Supplemental Program.

8 Please make sure you sign in the sign-in sheet

9 and indicate if you want to testify. I would like to

10 introduce the other DIR staff member here today, Nathan

11 Schmidt, attorney from the office of the director, and

12 Sylvia Cabrales Return-to-Work Supplemental manager,

13 and our court reporter is Celinda Aligada.

14 When you come up to testify, please leave your

15 business card with Celinda and also state your name.

16 All testimony given today will be taken down by

17 Celinda. If you have any written testimony you want to

18 hand in, please give it to Sylvia or to me. I will

19 check that they want to testify and we also check to

20 see if anyone has decided to comment.

21 The hearing will continue as long as there are

22 people present who wish to comment on the regulations,

23 but it will close at 4:30 P.M.

24 Written comments can be given to Sylvia or to

25 me if you have them with you or will be accepted by fax


1 or e-mail or delivery to the Oakland office up to

2 5:00 P.M. today.

3 The purpose of these hearings is to receive

4 comments on the proposed Return-to-Work Supplemental

5 Program Regulations, and we welcome any comments you

6 have about that.

7 All your comments given here today enclosed in

8 writing will be considered by the director in

9 determining what revisions we may make to the

10 regulations.

11 Please restrict the subject of your comments

12 to the regulations and to any suggestions you have for

13 changes to the proposed regulations. Also, please

14 limit comments to ten minutes in length. We will not

15 enter into any discussions this afternoon, although, we

16 may ask for clarification or ask you to elaborate

17 further on any points you understand.

18 Again, when you come up to give your

19 testimony, please give your business card to Celinda so

20 we can get your correct spelling of your name. And if

21 you want, you can speak in the microphone and identify

22 yourself before starting with your testimony.

23 So would the first speaker come to the

24 microphone and introduce yourself.

25 MR. McLAUGHLIN: Good afternoon. My name is


1 Robert McLaughlin, and I'm an attorney representing

2 injured workers in San Diego, and I'm also a member of

3 the California Applicant Attorney's Association.

4 First I'd like to thank the administrator

5 director and the department for the hard work they did

6 on these regulations. It is clear that they have

7 looked at the RAND study and have reviewed them. And

8 there's much to like about the regulations. They're

9 simple and they're efficient which means they'll be low

10 cost for administrating this program which I think is

11 an excellent idea.

12 I also like the fact that -- perhaps we can

13 emphasize a little more that the $120 million needs to

14 be paid out each year. It is clear from the

15 legislative goal that the intent was to make sure that

16 120 million gets to the injured workers that need it

17 the most.

18 And towards that there is a bit of an issue

19 because we're going to have approximately three years

20 of back-payments by the time these start getting paid

21 out, and so I know that you said the $5,000 would be

22 reviewed each year to see if it needs to be changed,

23 but you need to take into account that there may be a,

24 like, a mouse going through a snake effect.

25 I have some clients that were eligible for


1 this fund in 2013. I have done my best to keep track

2 of them; however, some have left the state and some

3 have left the country. So the amount that you're

4 anticipating, assuming all the funds are there, you

5 might find you have an excess that you might have to

6 reevaluate and then after that go back to the 5,000

7 level, so ask that you take that into account.

8 With regards to what I'm mainly here about is

9 assessability. First of all, I know that yesterday

10 there were comments made that the notification this

11 week put on page six about these funds, you really need

12 to make that more up front for injured workers.

13 Remember what I was telling you, I don't always know

14 where all my injured workers were that were eligible,

15 many have left the state so they may not be able to get

16 ahold of me or they may not even want to. So you need

17 to make sure they're notified of this right.

18 Secondly, I would also like to talk about the

19 fact that the application ought to be filled on-line.

20 In San Diego we not only represent San Diego County at

21 our board but also Imperial County, and for some of my

22 clients that is a two-and-a-half drive to get to the

23 WCAB in San Diego unless you drive like my wife then

24 it's two hours. But for most people who follow the

25 speed limit, it's two-and-a-half-hours from certain


1 areas. And I was wondering if there was any way we

2 could use the EDD offices because they have computer

3 banks already there, especially looking for jobs. I

4 know that there is the, I think the American's Job

5 Center of California. They have four offices in

6 Imperial County, two in El Centro, one in Brawley --

7 actually, one in Calexico and one in Winterhaven, and

8 that would make it so accessible for them to use those

9 computers at that location to access on-line, plus

10 there would be people there to maybe assist them if

11 them got stuck. So that would be very valuable

12 because, what I'm afraid of is, that making it only

13 available online, some of my clients don't have

14 internet access, they just don't have the resource for

15 the funds, now you throw in the fact that they're going

16 to be eligible for this fund because they lost their

17 job. Funds are going to be even harder for them to get

18 internet access and driving two-and-a-half-hours up to

19 the WCAB in San Diego may also not be financially

20 viable for them.

21 For that reason I also think perhaps an

22 application should be mailed to them so they can just

23 sign it and mail it back in, that would be the cost of

24 a stamp but that would be a little bit better. Also I

25 noticed that the regulations indicate there's going to


1 be a web page set up for the DIR for this. I'm not

2 sure what you're going to do about the language

3 problems; however, I notice on the EDD website, when I

4 was just there the other day looking up where all their

5 offices are, they actually have a Google button, when

6 you click it, and in 81 different languages you could

7 have that page translated. It'd be nice if the DIR

8 could do something like that to assist these injured

9 workers. I don't have any other comments.

10 MS. GORMLEY: Thank you.

11 MS. SCHOENFELDER: I'm Christel Schoenfelder.

12 I'm an applicant attorney, and I am also representative

13 of the California Applicant Attorney's Association. So

14 SB63 went into effect on January 1st of 2013. We had a

15 prolonged period of time where it seemed like we could

16 not get those regulations up for access to those

17 injured workers, and so today I wanted to describe the

18 situation as real as I possibly can.

19 So on March 5th of 2014, I was representing an

20 injured worker who was in desperate financial straits.

21 Due to the AME Work Restrictions she could not return

22 back to her job as a night cook making $12 an hour. On

23 top of dealing with the aftermath of her work injury,

24 we were trying to get her a $1,000 permanent disability

25 advance which was not granted.


1 So on May 29th, 2014, she settled her case.

2 She did receive the supplemental job displacement

3 voucher. She gave up her right to future medical

4 because she needed the funds so badly, and based on the

5 RAND study, we can presume she probably has not found

6 another job or has some significant earnings lost. She

7 has been waiting nearly seven months, and she's going

8 to have to continue to wait for access to the funds.

9 Although the fund monies will not complete

10 eradicate her pain or help her pay all of her bills,

11 certainly it is something that would ease some very

12 brief, quick financial hardship for her.

13 I do represent another injured worker as

14 Robert McLaughlin had indicated who also settled her

15 case. She has a stipulated award -- she has already

16 received the voucher, as well. She's been waiting for

17 nearly five months for her voucher funds, supplemental

18 funds, and she's going to have to continue to wait for

19 that.

20 I am certainly concerned when I read the

21 regulations about notice to these clients. The Statute

22 of Limitation begins to run for them one year from the

23 effective date of the regulations, and my understanding

24 is that notice is going to be via publication on the

25 DIR website. Both of these ladies may not have


1 internet access, and so I am concerned that they will

2 not know how they can actually access the fund monies.

3 One additional comment I'd like to make, it is

4 not lost on me that both of these injured workers that

5 I represent are females and they are both females over

6 the age of 40. And so I would respectfully request

7 that the Department of Industrial Relations track the

8 gender of the applicants for this fund money because if

9 it shows the disproportionate amount of female

10 applicants is something that I believe the Commission

11 on Health and Safety and Workers' Compensation should

12 study. Thank you.

13 MR. GRAHAM: Good afternoon. Brent Graham on

14 behalf of Latino Comp. I'm the past president of

15 Latino Comp and the current legislative share. Latino

16 Comp thanks the administration for allowing us to

17 comment on the Return-to-Work fund regulations and

18 related matters. Latino Comp's perspective is to

19 consider how the regulations will impact the injured

20 worker as they navigate their way through and out of

21 this complicated system. We have a couple areas of

22 concern about the proposed regulations.

23 First is the ability of Spanish speakers or

24 other non-English speakers to even comprehend that they

25 are entitled to participate in the Return-to-Work Fund.


1 I don't see in the regulations that they're going to be

2 in Spanish or required, that the notices are going to

3 be in Spanish, and for all of the hundreds of thousands

4 or, frankly, millions of non-English speakers who speak

5 a language other than English or Spanish, there needs

6 to be a way for them to understand and apply for these

7 funds.

8 Second, given the decreases in benefits for

9 all the injured workers brought about SB863, the

10 $120 million Return-to-Work fund was promised to be

11 available to offset some of the benefits decrease.

12 We're now two years down the line, presumedly 240

13 million should be in the Return-to-Work fund available

14 for people to apply for. So I would hope that the

15 administration airs on the side of given too much to

16 the injured workers who are eligible and exhausting

17 those 240 million dollars which should be sitting there

18 rather than airing on the side of too little and then

19 later on changing the amount that is provided.

20 The RAND study which is the basis for the

21 proposed regulations basically gives a range of $4,950

22 to $11,662 for each eligible injured worker. Latino

23 Comp would propose that the administration change the

24 regulations so that the maximum $11,662 is provided to

25 each eligible worker.


1 Based on the RAND study, obviously this is

2 just a small fraction of the actual earning losses that

3 each of these eligible injured workers has suffered and

4 we think they should be entitled to the maximum.

5 Second issue or third concern that Latino Comp

6 has is that under the RAND study, there's an assumption

7 that the usage rate for the supplemental job

8 displacement benefit, the vouchers, will double from

9 its current level based on the fact there's additional

10 funds available. That assumption is not backed up by

11 any study, data or evidence, rather, it's based on the

12 assumption that people would use the supplemental job

13 displacement benefits similar to the usage rate under

14 the old vocational rehabilitation system which went out

15 of use ten years ago; however, there's two critical

16 differences: One, is that under the old vocational

17 rehabilitation system, injured workers were actually

18 paid while they were going to school. Under the

19 current voucher program there is no such payment.

20 Secondly, the old vocational rehabilitation

21 program had 16,000 in funds available to the injured

22 worker to use for retraining. Obviously, we only have

23 6,000 under the current voucher program for these

24 injury 1113. So I think it's wrong and erroneous to

25 assume that automatically the participation rate will


1 double because of the availability of the

2 Return-to-Work fund. So I think that the numbers need

3 to be looked at again which is basically giving the

4 maximum 11,662 which is the amount from the RAND white

5 paper, table five.

6 Lastly, there's a third, fourth barrier for

7 injured workers to be able to obtain participation

8 eligibility under the Return-to-Work fund, that is the

9 current supplement job displacement benefit

10 requirement, requiring Form 10133.36 which is the

11 Return-to-Work form that has to be filled out by either

12 the treating doctor, QME, AME, or anyone else from a

13 medical standpoint that finds the injured worker

14 permanent stationary. That form is required to obtain

15 a supplemental job displacement benefit which is a

16 requirement to obtain participation for Return-to-Work

17 fund.

18 Unfortunately, because the newness of this

19 form, it's been revised 1114, the vast majority of

20 treating doctors, QME's, and AME's do not fill out this

21 form, have no idea they're supposed to fill out this

22 form which will have the effects of tens or hundreds of

23 thousands of injured work who otherwise are not able to

24 go back to their jobs and they're going to suffer 90%

25 or higher loss of earnings according to the RAND study


1 from getting their share of the Return-to-Work fund.

2 So I would hope there would be a way in these

3 regulations to publicize and encourage the doctor to do

4 what they're supposed to do, which is to fill out the

5 WC Form 10133.36. Latino Comp thanks you for your

6 time.

7 MS. GORMLEY: Next speaker.

8 MR. DELATORRE: Good afternoon. My name is

9 Bernardo Delatorre. I'm here on behalf of Comp. I'm

10 the president of Comp. And first of all, I'd like to

11 thank the Department of Industrial Relations for

12 allowing public input and allowing us to read and to

13 comment on these regulations, proposed regulations.

14 I would also like to comment on how simple it

15 is and how easy it can be for most workers to acquire

16 this Return-to-Work Fund. However, I believe it needs

17 a little bit more simplification, but the basic problem

18 being is, unfortunately, even though we depend on our

19 internet and we depend on our smart phones and we can

20 get the latest information we want in an instance, not

21 everyone can do that. And those are the people who

22 need these forms, those are the people who need this

23 money. Now in order to do that, we should be able to

24 have a printed form to apply for this. And even more

25 important than the printed form, it should also be in


1 the languages that the injured worker speak. To not

2 have a printed form and to not have it in the languages

3 the injured workers speak and in addition I'd like to

4 thank the speaker from Latino Comp regarding the form

5 10133.36, the way the regulations are made up, it's

6 really now one set of regulations.

7 And what I'm talking about is the supplemental

8 job displacement benefit regulations are now

9 intertwined with the Return-to-Work regulations, really

10 making them one set. And the requirement of this form,

11 which doctors are not filling out so carriers are not

12 paying out, or not sending out the voucher, so those

13 people will not be able to get the Return-to-Work Fund.

14 I believe it can be resolved very simply by

15 saying that if any doctor finds a person PNS after 113

16 and does not fill out this form, that report is not

17 substantial evidence. It is not valid until that form

18 is filled out, for any purposes. Once that form is

19 then acquired and the person can acquire this voucher,

20 then they can apply for the Return-to-Work Fund which

21 again should be in the language of the people speaking,

22 should be simplified to require to have someone

23 internet access as common as most of us, maybe all of

24 us in this room have, not everyone has it. And to

25 leave it as it is would seemingly require that only


1 those workers who have an attorney are going to be able

2 to get this voucher, and I believe the Return-to-Work

3 Fund and the voucher is now being set up so that they

4 will not need an attorney.

5 So, therefore, these regulations are

6 contradicting the intent of the Return-to-Work Fund.

7 So I believe it can be fixed, either require this from

8 the very beginning, require these doctors that their

9 report will not be valid which may not be paid for

10 until they fill out this form or also that this form

11 not be necessary to get the voucher. Either way I

12 believe that would be the simplification. Again, thank

13 you for your time.

14 MS. GORMLEY: Thank you. Anybody else want to

15 testify? So we're open until 4:30.

16 MR. RUEDAFLORES: Good afternoon, everybody.

17 Tommy A. Ruedaflores, and I'm a consumer advocate, a

18 member of Comp and Latino Comp and basically try to

19 fight for the rights of injured workers. A lot of this

20 stuff that has already been said by my state colleagues

21 already. I won't try to reiterate, but I wanted to

22 tell everyone here, and it's going to consider this

23 right to work fund, you know, practicing as an

24 applicant's lawyer over 30 years we seen the 80's where

25 the old rehab benefits included a stipend so our


1 clients could live while they go through school, you

2 know, that has been legislated out. We're now just

3 left with a voucher which is only $6,000, and back in

4 2012 when these regulations were again getting

5 rewritten, we got the right to Return-to-Work Fund of

6 120 million which was supposed to help our clients out

7 that had a great loss of earning capacity based on the

8 current AMA Guides and ratings that take place now.

9 So what I'd like to say, I don't know if I'm

10 talking too close to this -- I would like to say that

11 there shouldn't be a lot of restrictions for our

12 injured workers in order to get what they're due. The

13 form DWC 10133.36 says, my colleagues have already

14 indicated to everybody here, is another barrier that is

15 so new that most AME doctors, QME doctors or treating

16 doctors, don't even fill them out. So when they're not

17 filled out our clients cannot get a voucher. So it

18 doesn't make sense to me or to my clients to say that

19 form is a prerequisite to get what they deserve in that

20 they have suffered a great earning loss capacity due to

21 their work injury.

22 Also, many of my clients are illiterate. Now

23 I could count the dozens and dozens and dozens and

24 dozens of clients over the years that will make an

25 appointment with me just for me to read a letter from


1 the insurance company, their daughter couldn't decipher

2 it, their sons whose in our schools, their family, so

3 they come to us, the lawyers or the representatives, to

4 make sure they don't create an error.

5 So even if they get a form, oftentimes they

6 don't understand it because of the comprehension

7 problems, and if you look at current studies in this

8 great state of ours -- I forget the two or three

9 cities, one was El Centro, but we had the worse

10 schooling and illiteracy rate in our country. So to

11 put an additional burden on a worker to get what he

12 deserves, we feel that isn't valid or correct or it

13 shouldn't be done.

14 What's wrong with the representative or if

15 they're in pro per with their family, just sending a

16 simple notice or letter to the carrier that I would

17 like to be entitled to my work to fund monies, please

18 tell me what I need to do. That's what we think that

19 should happen. No more for the barriers.

20 Also, it is come to our understanding some of

21 the vouchers notwithstanding the fact that they are

22 illegal to settle, get settled any way, a PR agreement,

23 to what I call the "back door," at sometimes these are

24 resolved by our own client's representatives so there

25 won't be a voucher to implement, there won't be a


1 voucher to get, and oftentimes those clients don't

2 understand when they settlement matters, that that

3 could have been snuck in there in a 9 to 12, 13-page

4 CNR agenda. So that's why we feel there shouldn't be a

5 barrier or a notice requirement by a doctor to get

6 these funds that were promised to us by our great

7 California legislator back in 2012.

8 And if the terms of the fund being 120

9 million, now it should be 240 million, and it should

10 climb yet again another fiscal year. So there is

11 enough funding to provide that money whether they use a

12 voucher or not, you know, the crux of the decision was

13 to compensate injured workers for anticipated earning

14 losses due to the AMA guides and the ratings which

15 undercut a lot of the value of their claims that were

16 based on the old schedules we used to use from 1913 up

17 to 2004.

18 And that's why we feel that there shouldn't be

19 more stringent controls like that notice. It should be

20 we as their applicants or them as they represent

21 themselves should ask for it through a simple letter

22 through a carrier. And it shouldn't be dependant on a

23 voucher because there are still a lot of in pro pers in

24 the system, and oftentimes they don't understand

25 procedural forms of what needs to be done by those


1 third parties such as a doctor to get what they

2 deserve.

3 And recently in my practice, I haven't seen

4 that form yet. And I stand corrected if it's not out

5 yet, but we're fighting for vouchers that the board or

6 at settling conferences with nothing from a doctor,

7 just basically his report. And that's why myself being

8 president of Latino Comp and a consumer advocate and a

9 board of direct of Comp and us representing injured

10 workers for many years, keep it simple. Don't put more

11 burdensome requirements on people that are necessary

12 and don't assume the representative or their doctor is

13 going to follow all procedural requirements. It

14 shouldn't be that stringent, that burdensome and that

15 difficult.

16 We always get benefits through letters or

17 notices on their cases or injuries and that's the way

18 it should be done and there will be enough funds, 240

19 million and counting, to compensate those injured

20 workers. Thank you.

21 MS. GORMLEY: Thank you.

22 It's 4:30 P.M. now. The hearing for the

23 return to work supplemental program regulations is

24 closed.

25 (Proceedings adjourned.)


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1 CERTIFICATION

2

3 I, CELINDA ALIGADA, CSR. No. 13724, Certified

4 Shorthand Reporter for the State of California, do

5 hereby certify;

6 That said proceedings were taken down by

7 me in shorthand at the time and place therein named and

8 were thereafter transcribed by means of computer-aided

9 transcription; and the same is a true, correct and

10 complete transcript of said proceedings.

11 I further certify that I am not of

12 counsel nor attorney for any of the parties hereto or

13 in any way interested in the events of this cause and

14 that I am not related to any party hereto.

15 WITNESS my hand this_____day of_____________, 2014.

16

17 __________________________________ CELINDA ALIGADA C.S.R. No. 13724

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25


WORD INDEX

< $ >$1,000 7:24$11,662 10:22, 24$12 7:22$120 4:13 10:10$4,950 10:21$5,000 4:21$6,000 16:3

< 1 >10133.36 12:10 13:5 14:5 16:1311,662 12:41113 11:241114 12:19113 14:1512 18:3120 4:16 16:6 18:813724 1:23 21:3, 1713-page 18:316,000 11:211913 18:161st 7:14

< 2 >2004 18:172012 16:4 18:72013 5:1 7:142014 1:10 7:19 8:1 21:15240 10:12,17 18:9 19:1829th 8:1

< 3 >30 15:24320 1:12

< 4 >4:30 2:23 15:15 19:2240 9:64TH 1:12

< 5 >5,000 5:65:00 3:2

5th 7:19

< 6 >6,000 11:23

< 8 >80's 15:2481 7:6

< 9 >9 1:10 18:390 12:2490013 1:13

< A >ability 9:23able 5:15 12:7, 23 13:23 14:13 15:1accepted 2:25access 6:9,14, 18 7:16 8:8 9:1, 2 14:23accessible 6:8account 4:23 5:7acquire 13:15 14:19acquired 14:19actual 11:2addition 14:3additional 9:3 11:9 17:11adjourned 19:25administrating 4:10administration 9:16 10:15,23administrator 4:4advance 7:25ADVISOR 1:22 2:4advocate 15:17 19:8afraid 6:12aftermath 7:23afternoon 2:3 3:15,25 9:13

13:8 15:16age 9:6agenda 18:4ago 11:15agreement 17:22ahold 5:16airing 10:18airs 10:15ALIGADA 1:23 2:13 21:3,17allowing 9:16 13:12,12AMA 16:8 18:14AME 7:21 12:12 16:15American's 6:4AME's 12:20amount 5:3 9:9 10:19 12:4ANGELES 1:5,13anticipated 18:13anticipating 5:4Anybody 15:14APPEARANCES 1:21Applicant 4:3 7:12, 13applicants 9:8, 10 18:20applicant's 15:24application 5:19 6:22apply 10:6,14 13:24 14:20appointment 16:25approximately 4:19areas 6:1 9:21assessability 5:9assist 6:10 7:8Association 4:3 7:13

assume 11:25 19:12assuming 5:4assumption 11:6, 10, 12attorney 2:11 4:1 7:12 15:1,4 21:12Attorney's 4:3 7:13automatically 11:25availability 12:1available 6:13 10:11,13 11:10, 21award 8:15

< B >back 5:6 6:23 7:22 12:24 16:3 17:23 18:7backed 11:10back-payments 4:20badly 8:4banks 6:3barrier 12:6 16:14 18:5barriers 17:19based 8:4 11:1, 9, 11 16:7 18:16basic 13:17basically 10:21 12:3 15:18 19:7basis 10:20beginning 15:8begins 8:22behalf 9:14 13:9believe 9:10 13:16 14:14 15:2, 7, 12benefit 11:8 12:9, 15 14:8benefits 10:8, 11 11:13 15:25 19:16Bernardo 13:9

best 5:1better 6:24bills 8:10bit 4:18 6:24 13:17board 5:21 19:5, 9Brawley 6:6Brent 9:13brief 8:12brought 10:9burden 17:11burdensome 19:11, 14business 2:15 3:19button 7:5

< C >C.S.R 21:17Cabrales 2:12Calexico 6:7CALIFORNIA 1:13 4:3 6:5 7:13 18:7 21:4call 17:23capacity 16:7, 20card 2:15 3:19carrier 17:16 18:22carriers 14:11case 8:1, 15cases 19:17cause 21:13CELINDA 1:23 2:13, 15, 17 3:19 21:3,17Center 6:5Centro 6:6 17:9certain 5:25certainly 8:11, 20CERTIFICATION 21:1Certified 21:3certify 21:5,11change 10:23changed 4:22changes 3:13changing 10:19


check 2:19,19Christel 7:11cities 17:9claims 18:15clarification 3:16clear 4:6, 14click 7:6clients 4:25 5:22 6:13 8:21 16:1,6, 17, 18, 22,24 18:1client's 17:24climb 18:10close 2:23 16:10closed 19:24CNR 18:4colleagues 15:20 16:13come 2:14 3:18, 23 17:3, 20coming 2:4comment 2:20,22 9:3, 17 13:13, 14comments 2:24 3:4, 5,7, 11, 14 5:10 7:9Commission 9:10common 14:23Comp 9:14,15, 16 10:23 11:5 13:5,9, 10 14:4 15:18, 18 19:8, 9company 17:1compensate 18:13 19:19Compensation 9:11complete 8:9 21:10complicated 9:21comprehend 9:24comprehension 17:6Comp's 9:18computer 6:2

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< D >data 11:11date 8:23daughter 17:1day 7:4 21:15dealing 7:23

DECEMBER 1:7,10decided 2:20decipher 17:1decision 18:12decrease 10:11decreases 10:8DELATORRE 13:8, 9delivery 3:1DEPARTMENT 1:4, 11 2:5 4:5 9:7 13:11depend 13:18,19dependant 18:22describe 7:17deserve 16:19 19:2deserves 17:12desperate 7:20determining 3:9Diego 4:2 5:20, 20, 23 6:19differences 11:16different 7:6difficult 19:15DIR 2:10 7:1, 7 8:25direct 19:9DIRECTOR 1:22, 23 2:5, 11 3:8 4:5disability 7:24discussions 3:15displacement 8:2 11:8,13 12:9, 15 14:8disproportionate 9:9doctor 12:12 13:3 14:15 18:5 19:1,6, 12

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< E >earning 11:2 16:7, 20 18:13earnings 8:6 12:25ease 8:11easy 13:15EDD 6:2 7:3effect 4:24 7:14effective 8:23effects 12:22efficient 4:9either 12:11 15:7, 11El 6:6 17:9elaborate 3:16eligibility 12:8eligible 4:25 5:14 6:16 10:16,22, 25 11:3e-mail 3:1emphasize 4:13enclosed 3:7encourage 13:3English 10:5enter 3:15entitled 9:25 11:4 17:17eradicate 8:10erroneous

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< F >fact 4:12 5:19 6:15 11:9 17:21family 17:2,15fax 2:25feel 17:12 18:4, 18female 9:9females 9:5,5fight 15:19fighting 19:5fill 12:20,21 13:4 14:16 15:10 16:16filled 5:19 12:11 14:18 16:17filling 14:11financial 7:20 8:12financially 6:19find 5:5finds 12:13 14:15first 3:23 4:4 5:9 9:23 13:10fiscal 18:10five 8:17 12:5fixed 15:7follow 5:24 19:13forget 17:8Form 12:10,11, 14, 19, 21,22 13:5, 24,25 14:2, 4,


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< H >hand 2:18 21:15happen 17:19hard 4:5harder 6:17hardship 8:12Health 9:11HEARING 1:12 2:6, 21 19:22HEARINGS 1:7 3:3help 8:10 16:6hereto 21:12,14higher 12:25hope 10:14 13:2hour 7:22hours 5:24hundreds 10:3 12:22

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indicated 8:14 16:14INDUSTRIAL 1:4, 11 2:5 9:7 13:11information 13:20injured 4:2,16 5:12, 14 7:8, 17, 20 8:13 9:4,19 10:9, 16,22 11:3, 17,21 12:7, 13,23 14:1, 3 15:19 16:12 18:13 19:9,19injuries 19:17injury 7:23 11:24 16:21input 13:12instance 13:20insurance 17:1intent 4:15 15:6interested 21:13internet 6:14, 18 9:1 13:19 14:23intertwined 14:9introduce 2:10 3:24issue 4:18 11:5It'd 7:7its 11:9

< J >January 7:14Job 6:4, 17 7:22 8:2, 6 11:7, 12 12:9, 15 14:8jobs 6:3 12:24

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lot 15:19 16:11 18:15,23low 4:9

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< N >name 2:15 3:20, 25 13:8named 21:7NATHAN 1:23 2:10navigate 9:20nearly 8:7,17necessary 15:11 19:11need 4:16,23 5:11, 16


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< P >P.M 2:23 3:2 19:22

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< Q >QME 12:12 16:15QME's 12:20quick 8:12

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14:6, 9reason 6:21receive 3:3 8:2received 8:16reevaluate 5:6regarding 14:4regards 5:8regulations 2:22 3:5,10, 12, 13 4:6, 8 6:25 7:16 8:21,23 9:17, 19,22 10:1, 21,24 13:3, 13,13 14:5, 6,8, 9 15:5 16:4 19:23REGULATORY 1:7rehab 15:25rehabilitation 11:14, 17, 20reiterate 15:21related 9:18 21:14RELATIONS 1:4, 11 2:5 9:7 13:11Remember 5:13report 14:16 15:9 19:7REPORTER 1:23 2:13 21:4represent 5:20 8:13 9:5 18:20representative 7:12 17:14 19:12

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< S >Safety 9:11San 4:2 5:20, 20, 23 6:19saying 14:15says 16:13SB63 7:14SB863 10:9schedules 18:16SCHMIDT 1:23 2:11


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< T >table 12:5take 4:23 5:7 16:8taken 2:16 21:6talk 5:18talking 14:7 16:10tell 15:22 17:18telling 5:13ten 3:14 11:15tens 12:22terms 18:8TESS 1:22 2:4testify 2:9,14, 19 15:15testimony 2:16, 17 3:19, 22Thank 2:3 4:4 7:10 9:12 13:11 14:4 15:12,14 19:20, 21thanks 9:16 13:5think 4:10 6:4, 21 11:4, 24 12:2 17:18third 11:5 12:6 19:1thousands 10:3 12:23three 4:19 17:8throw 6:15time 4:20 7:15 13:6 15:13 21:7

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11:3, 17 12:7 13:15 14:3 15:1,19 16:12 18:13 19:10,20worse 17:9writing 3:8written 2:17,24wrong 11:24 17:14

< Y >year 4:14,22 8:22 18:10years 4:19 10:12 11:15 15:24 16:24 19:10yesterday 5:9

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COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES DECEMBER REGULATORY HEARINGS … · 2015-03-13 · 5 COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES 6 7 DECEMBER REGULATORY HEARINGS 8 RETURN-TO-WORK SUPPLEMENT PROGRAM 9 ... 13 of the