Division of Workers’ Compensation (DWC) Acting Administrative Director George Parisotto has appointed Deborah A. Whitcomb, workers’ compensation administrative law judge at the Stockton DWC district office, to serve as a member of the Workers’ Compensation Ethics Advisory Committee. The appointment is effective January 1, 2017.

Judge Whitcomb will fill the position designated for a workers’ compensation administrative law judge, replacing Tim Haxton.

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