Workers’ Compensation · Primary-source case analysis

Messele: Mail Service Extends the QME Panel-Request Waiting Period

By Aneeta Mishra and Timothy Chan

Published May 5, 2026

Messele v. Pitco Foods explains how to count the statutory waiting period after the first written AME proposal and when a premature panel challenge is preserved.

The dispute concerned a panel request made after a mailed proposal

Labor Code section 4062.2 gives represented parties a period to agree on an agreed medical evaluator after the first written proposal. The case required the Board to decide whether ordinary service extensions apply when that proposal is sent by mail.

The first day is excluded and the last day is included

The Board held that the statutory period begins on the day after the first written AME proposal and includes the last day. The request must wait until the complete agreement period has expired.

Mail service adds five calendar days within California

When the first written proposal is served by mail, or by another method other than personal service, the California service extension adds five calendar days. A panel request sent before the extended period expires is premature.

The clarification operated prospectively

The final en banc decision made the timing rule prospective from September 26, 2011. A previously requested panel could not later be attacked solely for prematurity when no timely objection had been made, preventing strategic challenges after an unfavorable evaluator or report.

Key takeaways

• Identify the exact date and method of the first written AME proposal.
• Exclude the proposal date when counting the statutory period.
• Add the applicable service extension before requesting a panel.
• Object promptly to prematurity or risk forfeiting that challenge.