It’s the horrors of the 1980s all over again. Cumulative trauma claims are back with a vengeance and spreading like a virus with a mouthpiece. Cumulative trauma claims had historically been a phenomenon of the Southern California market, but attorneys’ changing practice patterns have fueled an explosion of such claims across California. The California Workers’ …
Cumulative trauma claims now represent nearly 24% of all California workers’ comp indemnity claims, and it’s trending upward. While the claims begin with a lower incurred severity, the high rate of litigation and the extended claim duration make them more expensive than the average indemnity claim. Seasoned workers comp professionals find no real surprises here. …
The Fourth District Court of Appeal says the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board erred when it ruled on a former pro athlete’s workers’ comp claim against an out-of-state team for alleged cumulative trauma injuries. The 4th DCA ruled that legislative changes made in 2013 specifically to address such claims made the team and the player exempt …
The Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau is reporting that the share of workers’ compensation indemnity claims involving a cumulative trauma injury continued to rise throughout 2024 and is now at an all-time high. “There’s no sign of it slowing down,” say WCIRB officials. The Bureau is a private organization with quasi-governmental responsibility. It is financially …
A Chicago-based minor league professional baseball team will get a second chance to fight being brought into a California workers’ comp cumulative trauma claim by a former player. The Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board granted reconsideration, ordering the workers’ comp judge to hear and consider testimony that he had blocked the team from providing the first …
Executives at Employers Holdings Inc. (NYSE: EIG) say a rapid increase in the number of cumulative trauma claims stemming from its California operations is having a negative impact on its financials. The workers’ comp specialty carrier says CT claims are adding three points to its 2025 accident year loss and loss adjustment expense ratio. “Our …
A former baseball player applied for adjudication of an alleged cumulative trauma injury on May 9, 2017. His last date of exposure to the rigors of the game was June 14, 1978. Now, the Fourth District Court of Appeal is annulling a Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board decision and ordering it to determine the proper date …
Over 40% of all litigated claims in California’s workers’ comp now link to an alleged cumulative trauma (CT) injury. The rate is up over ten percentage points since 2010, and the trend is being driven primarily by claims from the Los Angeles Basin, including a large bump since the start of the pandemic. “We went …