The Division of Workers’ Compensation (DWC) Acting Administrative Director George Parisotto has appointed James R. Libien Esq., to serve as a member of the Workers’ Compensation Ethics Advisory Committee. The appointment is effective today.

Mr. Libien is counsel with Renn Sloan Holtzman Sakai, specializing in workers’ compensation.

He has represented public and private employers before the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board (WCAB). He has also served as a pro tem judge and as a mediator. He will fill the position to be held by an attorney who formerly practiced before the WCAB and who usually represented defendants, which was previously held by the late Robert Ruby.

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.

As civil servants, WCALJs are not subject to review by the California Commission on Judicial Performance, the agency responsible for investigating misconduct complaints directed at judges serving on the Supreme, Superior, and Appellate courts.

The regulation provides that the committee must include: three members of the public individually representing organized labor, insurers and self-insured employers; an attorney who formerly practiced before the WCAB and who usually represented insurers or employers; an attorney who formerly practiced before the WCAB 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 forms page of the DWC website. Anyone may file a complaint with the EAC. Complaints may be submitted anonymously, but all complaints must be presented in writing.

An EAC case is typically opened after the DWC receives a letter from an injured worker, an attorney, or a lien claimant (i.e., medical provider) who has been a party to a proceeding before a WCALJ employed by the DWC, and the complaint alleges ethical misconduct by that judge. The DWC then sends a letter to the complainant acknowledging that the complaint was received by the EAC.

Each complaint that alleges misconduct by a judge is formally reviewed by the EAC. To ensure objectivity by the reviewing members on the EAC, the committee adopted a policy requiring that the names of the complainant, the WCALJ, and witnesses as well as the specific DWC office where the alleged misconduct occurred be redacted from the copies of complaints reviewed at each meeting.

The committee prepares an annual report of its findings for the year. The latest report was published last March.