When filing a lien, a declaration must be made under penalty of perjury providing that certain services and billing statements were provided to an injured employee. Cal. Lab. Code § 4903.8(d).

Does execution of this declaration require a “wet” signature, or does an electronic signature (i.e. “S” signature) suffice? In answering this question, it is essential to focus on the intent of the Legislature. The goal, as described by the Legislature, is to prevent bad actors from engaging in fraud or other criminal conduct within the workers’ compensation system, or who have engaged in medical billing fraud, insurance fraud, or fraud against the federal Medicare or Medi-Cal systems.

The DWC’s Reference and Instructional Manual for Electronic Filing (the “Manual”) specifies that certain documents must be electronically filed with the “S” signature, and both liens and the lien verifications are included.  (p. 41) As clarified in the Rush v. ProCare Mobile Response (2018) decision confronting the same issue, the Court ruled that although the Manual does not specifically instruct the lien claimant to sign the 4903.8 declaration with an “S” signature (such as the lien and verification), such inference is reasonable because the declaration must be concurrently filed with the lien, and the lien can only be filed electronically.[1] The Manual states that the “S” signature shall be rebuttably presumed to be that of the individual whose name is on the document signature line. (Id. at p. 17; Manual, supra, at p. 41.)

The goal of preventing fraud remains intact; specifically, the individual who endorses an “S” signature on a 4903.8(d) declaration is rebuttably presumed to be that individual who is still subject to the deterrent effect of potential criminal sanctions should that person commit perjury by signing the declaration.

Accordingly, a 4903.8(d) declaration may be electronically signed.

 

[1] California Code of Regulations requires the concurrent filing of a proof of service, a verification pursuant to rule 10770.5, assignment documents pursuant to section 4903.8 (a) and (b), and the declaration pursuant to section 4903.8(d). Cal. Code Regs., tit.8, § 10770(c)(1),(2),(3),(4)