Assemblyman Rick Chavez Zbur (D-Los Angeles) amended AB 2039 last week to propose strict penalties for attorneys caught in capping arrangements. The bill would require an attorney to be disbarred if convicted as part of a capping scheme. The measure also proposes protections for whistleblowers who expose wrongdoing. The California State Bar is notorious for …
New York Marine and General Insurance is asking for a jury trial in federal district court to collect over $5 million in collateral, which it contends is owed by a California towing company that was in a group captive program covering AAA’s preferred towing operators. The carrier is going after United Towing & Transport, which …
The Division of Workers’ Compensation’s annual educational forum opened last week under the direction of a new leadership team at the Division and the Department of Industrial Relations. DIR Director Jennifer Osborn noted that she is still months away from her first anniversary in the position, and acting DWC Administrative Director Nicole Richardson has been …
The Assembly Insurance Committee is carrying AB 1683 to end the sunset date on a program that allows workers’ comp carriers, third-party administrators, and self-insured employers to distribute workers’ comp indemnity benefits via prepaid debit cards. The prepaid cards have been authorized under a pilot program since 2018. A report released last fall showed that …
The owners of a company that operated without workers’ comp coverage have been found not liable by a court. An employee who was severely burned on the job filed a lawsuit. The employee won a $1.1 million default judgment, but the trial court overturned the award due to attorney error. Hector Pena worked for Inter …
A San Diego neurosurgeon who was facing two felony counts for conspiracy and accepting kickbacks is a free man. First, an Orange County jury found him not guilty of the conspiracy charge, and now the remaining kickback allegation, which the jury had been unable to reach a verdict on, has been dismissed. Orange County DA …
Assemblyman Ash Kalra (D-San Jose) is bringing back – for a third time – a bill to create a single-payer health care system in California. Past attempts failed to clear their house of origin. The latest version of the bill to create the CalCare program includes a provision for an advisory board to develop a …
The Fourth District Court of Appeal says a county employee’s negligence claim against his employer for requiring him to use a modified work tool that caused a serious injury is covered by the Workers’ Compensation Act’s exclusivity provision. The court notes that there are exceptions that allow claims to fall outside the workers’ compensation bargain, …