In a strongly worded en banc decision, the WCAB rejected a lien claim, saying a workers’ comp judge should award sanctions, attorney’s fees and costs in a case where the lien claimant went to trial and could not meet its burden of proof. And not only does the WCAB direct the WCJ to consider sanctioning the …
In James Russell Collins v. Union Pacific Railroad Company, the Fourth Appellate District considered appeals filed by both parties from the Superior Court of Riverside County. The plaintiff originally filed a workers’ compensation claim against his employer, a contractor, and later filed a complaint for damages against defendant Union Pacific under the Federal Employers’ Liability …
New regulations to help rein in the workers’ comp industry’s lien problem could be finalized within the next few weeks, but regulations alone are not likely to make the problem go away entirely, say industry experts. In addition to the new rules, they say, the industry – public- as well as private-sector entities — has …
Legislators are wasting no time in kicking off the session, already introducing bills attempting to curb the underground economy they helped to create. Some are resurrecting bills from last year and shaping more comprehensive workers’ comp legislation as envisioned by Governor Jerry Brown. The Senate Committee on Labor and Industrial Relations is working on two …
The Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board is proposing stiff new rules to wipe inactive liens from its dockets and to keep unnecessary paper out of the system. The proposed rules are particularly tough on amended liens, which acting Department of Industrial Relations Director Christine Baker recently likened to a “tidal wave” of paper crashing down on …
“We would prefer to plow savings, such as those achieved in SB 863, into PD benefits. We don’t have plans on moving a PD bill this year, but things are always subject to change.” —Angie Wei, California Labor Federation Legislation that would reform the way workers’ comp liens are adjudicated and resolved will be heard …
Employers are challenging public sector-backed legislation that would allow full reimbursement of benefits used by employer-funded health care trusts to treat injured workers if a claim is denied but later shown to be compensable. SB 457, authored by Ron Calderon (D-Montebello), is so broad that employers say it will permit injured workers to seek care from …
The Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board (WCAB) in an en banc decision says employers must pay for reasonably required interpreter services for doctors’ visits and other medical appointments that are strictly for treatment when the injured worker is “unable to speak, understand, or communicate in English.” But the WCAB’s decision in Jose Guitron v. Santa Fe …