As soon as Governor Newsom signs the bill, California employers must abide by SB 1159 which creates for some employees an expanded presumption that COVID-19 caused illness or death qualifies for workers’ compensation...more
On March 4, Governor Gavin Newsom proclaimed a State of Emergency exists for California due to the threat of COVID-19. On March 13, President Trump announced a national emergency in response to the coronavirus outbreak. Since...more
Haight Brown & Bonesteel LLP continues to monitor legislative changes made to or considered for the California workers’ compensation system due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On March 13, President Trump announced a national...more
According to a recent University of California Irvine study, scientists predict that with increasing temperatures and shifting precipitation patterns associated with client change, the incidence of human coccidioidomycosis...more
In Meadowbrook Insurance Co. v. Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board (WCAB) (DFS Interpreting), No. C088882, November 21, 2019, the Court of Appeal for the 3rd District of California held that an interpreter company’s failure...more
The Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board (WCAB) issued a unanimous en banc decision on November 14, 2019 clarifying what the initial burden of proof is for a medical-legal lien claimant and what are defendant’s obligations in...more
In Travelers Property Casualty Co. of America v. WCAB (CIGA) (Filed 9/18/19; Certified for Publication 10/2/19), the Court of Appeal for the 2nd District of California determined that in a workers’ compensation policy the...more
The Court of Appeal has ruled that the grand bargain underpinning the workers’ compensation system does not envision paying indemnity for medical appointments taking place without temporary disability. Renee Skelton v....more
In its recent significant panel decision, Puni Pa’u v. Department of Forestry/Cal Fire (Filed 09/11/2019), the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board (WCAB) concluded that Saturday is not a working day when applying Labor Code...more
In City of Petaluma v. WCAB and Lindh, (A153811, Filed 12/10/18), the California Court of Appeal, First Appellate District, rejected Applicant’s claim that apportionment of permanent disability may not reflect a previously...more
The California Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District, in Larry Tripplett v. Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board, Indianapolis Colts, et al., G054825 (June 28, 2018), found that California jurisdiction in a workers’...more
The California Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District, in Adrian Camacho v. Target Corporation, D073280 (June 8, 2018), determined that for a workers’ compensation settlement to effectively bar a civil action for...more
In Duncan v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (Cert. for Pub. on 12/13/17, No. G054220), the California Court of Appeal held that a plaintiff-employee is not entitled to reduce her employer’s lien to recover paid temporary disability,...more
In M.F. v. Pacific Pearl Hotel Management LLC (Cal. Ct. App., Oct. 26, 2017, No. D070150) 2017 WL 4831603, a hotel housekeeper (known as M.F. to preserve her privacy) was assaulted and raped at work by a trespasser known to...more
It is well-established that the workers’ compensation system serves as the exclusive remedy for an employee who suffers injuries arising during the course and scope of employment, including psychiatric injuries. Recently,...more
Workers’ compensation litigation often is driven by disagreement over the apportionment of permanent disability. A vast body of case law exists reflecting the courts’ efforts to resolve conflicts between the provisions of the...more
A second district of the California Court of Appeal has now upheld utilization review (UR) and independent medical review (IMR) as constitutional means to manage medical treatment in California's workers' compensation system....more
On January 23, 2017, the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board issued its first en banc decision since April 2016. In Bradley Maxham v. California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, ADJ3540065, the Board clarifies...more
In 2004 and 2012 the California Legislature enacted reforms to streamline the medical treatment approval process for workers' compensation claims. The most significant of the 2012 reforms was California Senate Bill 863, which...more
On March 22, 2016, the Second District Court of Appeal, Division One, published its opinion in California Insurance Guarantee Assn. v. Workers’ Comp. Appeals Bd., No. B263869, Cal.App.4th, in which it determined that the WCAB...more
On October 28, 2015, the Second District Court of Appeal, Division Six, published its opinion in Margaret Batten v. Long Beach Memorial Hospital, B260916, in which it determined that a self-procured medical-legal report...more
On May 13, 2015, the Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District, opined in Cynthia Lozano v. WCAB (B258000) that a 2009 amendment to Labor Code section 3212.1 may be applied retroactively to an injurious exposure which...more