Important Recent California Case Law

Tuesday, November 13, 2012 | 0

NEW! Homeport Insurance Services, Inc., v. Lundy, B236276, (11/05/2012): A provision in a settlement agreement for a longshoreman's workers' compensation and personal injury claims which barred him from ever seeking reemployment with his employer was enforceable as a matter of law, ruled the Court of Appeals of California, 2nd District, Division 7.

NEW! ReadyLink Healthcare, Inc. v. Jones, B234509, (11/06/2012): A staffing company must pay State Compensation Insurance Fund (SCIF) an additional $555,327.53 in premium, the California 2nd District Court of Appeal ruled on Tuesday, agreeing with the carrier that the firm had disguised wages it paid to traveling nurses by labeling the bulk of its payments as reimbursement for living expenses, ruled the Court of Appeals of California, 2^nd District, Division 2.

City of Pomona v. Heiselt, B234603,(10/19/2012): The California 2nd District Court of Appeals upheld a permanent injunction that bars a former Pomona police officer with a history of angry confrontations with workers' compensation claims managers from possessing firearms and visiting City Hall.

Kroger Co. v. WCAB (Rodriguez), B239771, (10/30/2012): A Declaration of Readiness to Proceed does not need to be filed along with a notice of appeal challenging a vocational rehabilitation award for the appeal to be effective, ruled the Court of Appeals of California, 2nd District, Division 1.

Tristan v. California Dept of Corrections and Rehabilitation, D060285, (10/29/2012): The California Department of Corrections was entitled to the summary dismissal of a parole agent's claims that his supervisors had discriminated against him after he suffered two work-related knee injuries, ruled the Court of Appeals of California, 4th District, Division 1.

Farmer v. Lodi Memorial Hospital Assn. Inc., C068489, (10/24/2012): A former hospital worker's wrongful termination claim failed as a matter of law because she did not timely exhaust her administrative remedies, and she was an at-will employee, ruled the Court of Appeals of California, 3rd District, in San Joaquin.

Adventist Health v. WCAB, C069906, (10/23/2012): An employee was not entitled to reimbursement for the treatment she received from doctors who were not designated as her primary treating physicians, had not been approved by Adventist, did not provide any treatment plan or medical reports, and did not consider the treatment plan provided by the lead physician, ruled the Court of Appeals of California, 3rd District.

Elijahjuan et al. v. the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, B234794, (10/17/2012): A trial court judge erred in directing a dispute between four workers and their employer based on their alleged misclassification as independent contractors to arbitration, since the terms of the agreement that some of the workers had signed only compelled arbitration for disputes regarding the application or interpretation of that agreement, ruled the California Court of Appeal, 2^nd District, Division 8.

Ayala et al. v. Antelope Valley Newspapers, Inc., B235484, (09/19/2012): A group of newspaper home delivery carriers were entitled to assert a class action against their employer based on their alleged misclassification as independent contractors, ruled the California Court of Appeal, 2^nd District, Division 4.

Spinks v. EQR-Briarwood, H036448, (10/18/2012): A temporary worker who was kicked out of her employer-provided apartment after she could no longer work because of an on-the-job injury had abandoned the property and had no cause of action against her former employer, ruled the Court of Appeals of California, 6th District.