Chairwoman Ronnie G. Caplane of the California Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board: announced that WCJ Cris Gondak has been appointed to the position of Deputy Commissioner at the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board.

As a Deputy Commissioner, Judge Gondak will supervise the Appeals Board’s staff attorneys, train and mentor new attorneys and act as counsel to the Commissioners when necessary. She will also participate in drafting regulation, en banc and significant panel decisions as well as participate as a panelist on cases as necessary.

Judge Gondak has been a Workers’ Compensation Administrative Law Judge in Santa Rosa and Oakland since 1998. Prior to that, she was a partner at Hanna, Brophy, MacLean, McAleer and Jensen in Oakland where she began her career in workers’ compensation law in 1981. Judge Gondak received her JD from U.C. Hastings College of the Law in 1975 and her BA from Stanford University in 1971.

Chairwoman Caplan said that “Judge. Gondak is a highly respected Workers’ Compensation Administrative Law Judge for her legal acumen, knowledge, evenhandedness and well-reasoned decisions. She brings a wealth of experience and a good sense of humor to the Appeals Board. We look forward to having Judge Gondak join us on July 1, 2013.”