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
On January 13, 2020, the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board (WCAB or Board) issued an en banc affirmation of its July 31, 2018 Opinion and Decision After Reconsideration and gave the California Administrative Director of the...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 Wilson v. State of California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, the WCAB held that multiple factors must be considered by a court making a determination whether an injury is catastrophic and qualifies for an...more
In Wilson v. State of California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, ADJ10116932 (filed 5/10/19), the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board held in an en banc decision that determination of whether an injury is...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
In County of San Diego v. WCAB and Kyle Pike, (D072648, filed 3/6/18), the California Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District, rejected Applicant’s claim that temporary disability benefits are payable more than five years...more
In State Compensation Insurance Fund v. WCAB and Jose Guzman, (H044300, filed 1/30/18, publication order 2/23/18), the California Court of Appeal, Sixth Appellate District, rejected Applicant’s argument that a psychiatric...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 Morales-Simental v. Genentech, Inc. (A145865, filed 9/22/17, publication order 10/19/17), the California Court of Appeal, First Appellate District rejected the plaintiffs’ broad interpretation of the “special errand”...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
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
On January 29, 2015, the Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District, ordered the publication of Ogden Entertainment Services v. WCAB (Ritzhoff), (B254082), previously a non-certified opinion that issued on December 31, 2014....more
On November 20, 2014, the WCAB issued Bodam v. San Bernardino County/Department of Social Services, and declared it to be A Significant Panel Decision, which means it is citable before the board, but is not persuasive...more