Important Recent California Case Law

Thursday, August 28, 2014 | 0

NEW! Sinclair v. Praxair Inc., D063578, (08/20/2014): A California appellate court ruled that a worker suffering from renal failure could not sue his employer for concealing the fact that his workplace exposure to hazardous contaminants had contributed to his condition when he admittedly knew he had renal disease.

NEW! The People v. Karawia, B248405, BA355163, (08/18/14): The owner of a Southern California security firm who lied about employing some 2,700 workers to bilk the State Compensation Insurance Fund out of $10 million in premiums failed to persuade the 2nd District Court of Appeals to reduce his sentence for the possession of unregistered assault weapons, which law enforcement officers found while searching his house for evidence to support the fraud case against him.

NEW! LeFiell Manufacturing Co. v. Superior Court (Watrous), B254261, (08/06/2014): A California appellate court ruled that a "point of operation guard" is any device or apparatus that keeps a worker’s hands or other body parts outside of the area where a die shapes material by impact or pressure while the worker is operating the power press.

NEW! Bell v. San Bernardino County Employees Retirement Association, D065610, (07/29/2014): A California appellate court upheld the denial of disability retirement benefits to a self-represented litigant, finding his appeal from the adverse decision of the San Bernardino County Employees' Retirement Association to have been time-barred.

NEW! Gregory v. Cott, SC109507, (08/04/2014): A divided California Supreme Court ruled that the workers' compensation system provides the appropriate means of recovery for in-home health care workers who are injured by Alzheimer's patients.

NEW! Gerber v. Sweetwater Union High School District, D063576, (07/29/2014): The California 4th District Court of Appeal affirmed the dismissal of a wrongful termination complaint filed by a school district maintenance worker who allegedly made it his "personal mission" to find asbestos, and then filed a workers' compensation claim for alleged exposure to it.

NEW! People ex rel. Harris v. Pac Anchor Transportation, S194388, (07/28/14): The Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act does not pre-empt a state law cause of action against a trucking company for its alleged misclassification of drivers as independent contractors, the California Supreme Court ruled.

NEW! Fulkes v. Board of Retirement of the Tulare County Employees Retirement Association, F067677, (07/28/2014): A California appellate court ruled that a criminal investigator for a district attorney's office was entitled to a service-related disability retirement pension based on his post-traumatic stress disorder.

NEW! Patterson v. The Oaks Farm, ADJ3905924, (07/24/14): An injured worker was not required to go through the utilization review and independent medical review process in order to obtain the reinstatement of nurse case manager services after her employer unilaterally cut them off, according to the California Workers' Compensation Appeals Board.

NEW! Ortiz v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co., F067121, (07/15/2014): The workers' compensation benefits that a driver received after a car accident offset the underinsured motorist benefits available to him under his car insurance policy, a California appellate court ruled.

Benavides v. WCAB (Specialty Risk Services), B251487, (07/18/2014): California's 2nd District Court of Appeal ruled that an injured worker could renege on his agreement to a stipulated award for his industrial injury and reopen his claim based on a new report from an agreed medical evaluator increasing his level of disability.

Rodriguez v. City of Santa Cruz, H038973, (07/17/2014): A California appellate court ruled that a former Santa Cruz police officer should get a second chance to prove his claim for an industrial disability retirement based on his post-traumatic stress disorder.

Roman Catholic Bishop of Monterey, California v. Mansfield, H038222, (07/11/2014): A California appellate court ruled that an injured worker who intervened in a third-party action that her employer had initiated and maintained for four years was required to pay the entire amount of her modest recovery to cover the cost of her employer's lien.

People v. Fuentes, A138058, (06/27/2014): The 1st District Court of Appeal rejected an injured worker's challenge to the probation conditions imposed on him for his attempt to fraudulently reopen his claim for workers' compensation benefits.

Old Republic Construction Program Group v. The Boccardo Law Firm, H037989, (6/27/14): An insurance company's lawsuit based on an applicant attorney's decision to disburse the settlement funds from a third-party lawsuit to his client without seeking the carrier's consent was not a strategic lawsuit against public participation, a California appellate court ruled. 

State of California ex. Rel Michael Wilson v. Los Angeles Superior Court (Bristol-Myers Squibb), B252073, (06/27/2014): California's 2nd District Court of Appeal bolstered the strength of a qui tam plaintiff's position in his quest for the imposition of civil penalties against the Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. for its alleged use of cappers to induce physicians to prescribe its drugs to their patients.