The DWC Acting Administrative Director George Parisotto has appointed Jamie Spitzer, presiding workers’ compensation administrative law judge at the Anaheim DWC district office, and Neil Robinson, presiding administrative law judge of the Occupational Health and Safety Appeals Board (OSHAB), to serve as members of the Workers’ Compensation Ethics Advisory Committee.
The appointments are effective immediately.
Judge Spitzer will fill the position designated for a presiding workers’ compensation administrative law judge, replacing Marina del Rey Presiding Judge Paige Levy, who was named chief judge for DWC in February.
Judge Robinson will fill the position of a member of the public outside the workers’ compensation community, previously held by Alameda Superior Court Judge Alice Vilardi.
The ethics advisory committee, established in 1995 by Title 8, California Code of Regulations, section 9722, reviews all ethics complaints from the public against workers’ compensation administrative law judges.
The committee reviews all complaints without learning the names of complainants or judges, and then makes recommendations to the administrative director and the DWC court administrator. The committee meets quarterly and members serve without compensation.
The regulation provides that the committee must include three members of the public representing organized labor; insurers and self-insured employers, an attorney who formerly practiced before the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board and who usually represented insurers or employers, an attorney who formerly practiced before the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board and who usually represented applicants, a presiding judge, a workers’ compensation administrative law judge (WCALJ) or retired WCALJ, and two members of the public outside the workers’ compensation community.
A judicial ethics complaint form and instructions can be found on the DWC website.