Grinberg: One More Thought on Columbus Day

Tuesday, December 14, 2021 | 0

As you may recall, on Columbus day I offered this post, which pointed out that while the California courts consider Columbus Day a holiday, the State of California does not.  Well, we now have a very recent and fresh panel decision from the Workers' Compensation Appeals on this very point.

Gregory Grinberg

The decision is in the case of Vanlandingham v. American Services & Products Inc. In that case, the judge issued a decision on Sept. 16, 2021, but the petition for reconsideration was not filed until Oct 12. 

The 25th day was Oct. 11, which was Columbus Day. The WCAB then rejected the petition as untimely because “[a]lthough Columbus Day was observed on Monday, Oct. 11, 2021, the Appeals Board was open for filing on that day.”

The attorneys appear to be likely safe from a malpractice claim, as the WCAB also noted that “[i]f the petition had been timely, we would have denied it on the merits.” But this case is a cautionary tale for all of us down in the trenches of the WCAB. Columbus Day is being treated as a regular working day for purposes of the WCAB.

Let’s take it one step further: Had this been an appeal filed with the Court of Appeal from an adverse decision on reconsideration, would it have been timely? Well, it certainly appears that the filing party would have gotten the extra day under the California Rules of Court.

So, to all those venturing into the workers’ compensation swamp from the sunny lands beyond, I can only say “hic sunt dracones.”

Gregory Grinberg is managing partner of Gale, Sutow & Associates’ S.F. Bay South office and a certified specialist in workers’ compensation law. This post is reprinted with permission from Grinberg’s WCDefenseCA blog.