9th Circuit Says Angelotti, Exclusive Remedy Pre-Empt RICO Case

The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals relied on a key holding from a 2015 decision affirming the constitutionality of a lien activation fee in finding that a group of California first responders lacked standing to sue third-party administrators for allegedly using frivolous denials to delay the payment of benefits. Workers’ compensation benefits are completely statutory, and no right to receive them exists without a final judgment, the court said three years ago in Angelotti. The court was assessing whether the $100 activation fee created by SB 863 constituted an improper taki...