No change in California misconduct complaints: Report

The California Division of Workers’ Compensation released its 2016 Ethics Advisory Committee's annual report Friday showing no increase in the number of misconduct complaints. 

The committee considered a total of 39 of the 44 new complaints it received in calendar year 2016, in addition to six complaints pending from the year prior, according to the report. Of them, nine complaints filed in 2016 are pending ongoing investigation, and five pending complaints were filed after the committee’s final calendar meeting for 2016. The committee also resolved six complaints pending ongoing investigation in 2015. 

A bulk of complaints — 32 — were filed by employees without attorneys representing them, per the report.

The complaints included a variety of grievances, with “a large proportion of the complaints alleging legal error not involving judicial misconduct or expressed dissatisfaction with a judge’s decision,” according to the report.

The workers compensation ethics advisory committee is a state committee independent of the state’s workers comp division that is charged with reviewing and monitoring complaints of misconduct filed against workers comp administrative law judges. The committee is required to make a public report each year summarizing activities in the previous calendar year.