Trip by Workers’ Comp Justices Probed : Ethics: Officials investigate whether jurists broke conflict of interest laws by accepting excursions to Hawaii from a doctor who treats injured employees.

State authorities, looking into possible corruption in the workers’ compensation courts, are investigating whether four Orange County judges accepted trips to Hawaii from a doctor involved in cases before the courts, an official spokesman has confirmed.

Although at least two of the judges say they covered their own travel expenses, investigators have yet to determine whether advance payments or proper reimbursements actually were made by any of the four jurists, said John Duncan, the spokesman for the California Department of Industrial Relations.

The trip was arranged in connection with a workers’ compensation seminar at which the judges had reportedly been invited to speak.

Duncan, whose agency oversees the state Workers’ Compensation Division, confirmed that the trip under investigation was a four-day excursion to Hawaii in October, 1991. The spokesman added that “just because we are looking into this doesn’t mean there is a problem.”

Under scrutiny in connection with the trip, Duncan said, are Ellen L. Flynn and Andrew H. Nash of the Anaheim Workers’ Compensation Court, and Adolph U. Molina and David L. Zimmerman, who serve in Santa Ana. Flynn and Molina are the presiding judges of their courthouses.

“The trip is under investigation, and all aspects of it are under investigation,” Duncan said. “You can’t give a judge anything of value in exchange for favorable treatment. That’s the ultimate question” under investigation, Duncan added.

Duncan said the doctor believed to have provided the Hawaii trips is Jacob Rabinovich of Irvine, an orthopedic surgeon whose patients include injured workers with cases before the workers’ compensation courts. Rabinovich’s income sometimes depends on decisions by workers’ compensation judges because the courts in disputed cases often decide how much doctors should be paid for treating injured workers.

A representative of Rabinovich’s medical offices in Santa Ana said the doctor is on vacation outside the country and will be unavailable for comment until the end of July. She declined to discuss the situation.

If the judges did not pay their own travel expenses and later ruled on cases involving Rabinovich, there could be violations of state conflict-of-interest laws.

A lawyer for the Fair Political Practices Commission has advised the Department of Industrial Relations that “if (a) judge receives gifts, including transportation, aggregating $250 or more in value prior to a decision affecting the donor, the judge may have a conflict of interest.”

The FPPC lawyer also said the law that appears to apply in this case requires gifts valued at $50 or more to be reported on the judges’ annual financial disclosure statements.

There was no indication on the judges’ economic interest statements for 1991 that they received air fare or expenses from Rabinovich as gifts or in lieu of speaking fees. However, if the judges paid their own way, or fully reimbursed Rabinovich for any money he paid on their behalf, they would not be required to report the trip as a gift on their financial disclosure statements.

The inquiry into the Hawaii trips is part of a broader investigation launched several months ago by the Workers’ Compensation Division. The agency oversees 28 courts statewide that resolve disputes between workers seeking medical treatment and cash benefits for on-the-job injuries, and the insurers and employers responsible for covering the costs.

Among other things, authorities are trying to determine whether judges and court employees improperly received gifts, money, trips, loans and speaking fees from attorneys and physicians who are involved in cases pending before some of the judges in question.

Casey L. Young, the administrator for the Worker’s Compensation Division, could not be reached for comment. He has previously told The Times that no wrongdoing has yet been proven and that many of the allegations have turned out to be groundless.

All four of the judges either declined to comment or could not be reached this week. But Flynn’s lawyer, Fred J. Kumetz, said the judge had no conflicts of interest because she had never ruled on any unpaid medical bills involving Rabinovich.

Kumetz said Flynn reimbursed Rabinovich “or whoever advanced the expenses,” but he declined to say whether Flynn paid for all or only part of the trip’s cost.

In an interview with The Times last month, Molina said that he went to the Hawaiian Islands at his own expense to speak to a group of attorneys about workers’ compensation law. He denied any impropriety and said he kept his expense records in case any questions were raised about the trip.

In a July 12 letter received by The Times, Molina wrote that the accusations surrounding him and other workers’ compensation judges disclosed in news articles are false and have caused him irreparable damage.