View this article online: https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/west/2009/03/26/99020.htm
While California’s Division of Workers’ Compensation (DWC) Chief Deputy Administrative Director Carrie Nevans takes temporary personal leave, the Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) Director John Duncan has designated DWC Chief Counsel Destie Overpeck as the acting chief deputy administrative director in her absence.
“Destie has served as the DWC’s chief counsel since 2005, where she has overseen the implementation of a wide variety of regulations and administrative processes,” said Duncan. “I am confident in her ability to ensure all the division’s functions will continue seamlessly until Carrie’s return.”
Overpeck was appointed DWC’s chief counsel by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in August of 2005. In this role, she has drafted and overseen the preparation of regulations implementing workers’ compensation reforms and programs, participated in stakeholder meetings and public hearings regarding proposed regulations, advised the DWC administrative director and supervised the DWC legal unit. In addition to drafting regulations, the legal unit advises the medical unit, the audit unit and the research unit; responds to inquires from the public; prepares legislative analyses; defends the division and its employees in lawsuits; and represents the division when regulations are challenged.
From 2000 through 2005, Overpeck worked for the DWC as an Industrial Relations Counsel III. In this role, she handled all of the audit unit’s administrative penalty and civil penalty disputes and hearings. In 2004, she represented the audit unit in the first civil penalty trial since Labor Code section 129.5 was enacted. Overpeck also served as the ethics advisor for DWC’s 150 workers’ compensation judges, prepared the DWC annual ethics advisory committee report and acted as DWC’s liaison for the ethics advisory committee.