On Thursday, September 17, 2020, Governor Newsom signed Senate Bill 1159. The bill replaces Newsom’s Executive Order N-62-20 and extends the presumption of industrial injury to certain employees who fulfill the criteria...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
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 Alvarez v. Seaside Transportation Services, LLC et al. (No. B275980, filed July 20, 2017), Division Eight of the Second Appellate District affirmed a trial court grant of summary judgment to defendants based on 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
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
The Fourth Appellate District of the California Court of Appeal issued its determination in a dispute over utilization review in its opinion of January 5, 2016, Kirk King et al. v. CompPartners, Inc. et al, 2016 S. O. S. In...more
In Contra Cost County v. Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board, and Dahl, Case No. A141046 [WCAB No. ADJ1310387], filed September 24, 2015, the California Court of Appeal, First Appellate District, annulled a Workers’...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
The California Court of Appeal addressed the scope of the Going And Coming Rule in its decision, Craig Schultz v. WCAB and Joint Test Tactics and Training (JT3), 2015 S.O.S. 99, January 6, 2015....more