The Southern California Permanente Medical Group (SCPMG) tried to recover the workers’ comp benefits it paid to an employee from the settlement the employee reached with a liable third party. A trial court granted the medical group’s motion for reimbursement, but an appeals court held that SCPMG acted too late to recover a portion of …
The Fifth District Court of Appeal says a trial court erred by awarding summary judgment in a third-party liability case based on the Privette Doctrine because there are triable issues concerning safety conditions at the worksite. The appeals court maintains that the lower court must resolve who had responsibility for inspecting the worksite conditions when …
The Second District Court of Appeal overturned another Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board decision. This one held that an employer had to show a change in an injured worker’s medical condition before utilization review can deny a renewed request for home health services. The DCA ruled that medical professionals, not lay personnel at the WCAB, must …
Attorneys representing Applied Underwriters’ California Insurance Company and the California Department of Insurance faced steady pushback by a panel of justices as the First District Court of Appeal heard arguments …
In a case where an employee was fired for violating a workplace safety rule, the Second District Court of Appeal sustained a lower court’s order granting summary judgment in favor of the employer in a discrimination lawsuit by a former employee. The employee had been fired once before but was back working under a “last …
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal members voted to reject a petition for rehearing and rehearing en banc by the convicted head of a workers’ comp bribery scheme that generated $263 million in fraudulent claims for MRI services. Sam Solakyan filed the petition after the Ninth Circuit affirmed all counts of his conviction last fall. …
Last week, the State Bar Court of California lifted a November 22nd order temporarily suspending Matthew Rifat’s license to practice law following his guilty plea to a single Penal Code section 549 violation. The court belatedly granted his motion to stay the interim suspension while the State Bar works to determine whether the conviction constituted …