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, …
A federal court in Southern California says there was no vindictive prosecution in the government’s attempt to recoup restitution from Sam Solakyan for running a workers’ comp kickback scheme, but it reduced the amount the government can recover to just over $4.4 million. Previously, the court awarded nearly $28 million in restitution. Solakyan ran Vital …
Orange County Superior Court judge Israel Claustro agreed to plead guilty to federal charges that he defrauded the California workers’ comp system, in particular the Subsequent Injuries Benefits Trust Fund, …
Welcome to 2026. Workers’ Comp Executive is starting its 36th year of covering California’s workers’ comp industry. Here is our annual look back at the biggest stories from the prior twelve months. In many instances, the top stories of 2025 brought closure to issues that had populated this annual review for several years, while other …
Californians who get their homeowner’s insurance coverage through the FAIR Plan will not have incidental workers’ comp coverage or premises liability coverage under a decision handed down by the Second District Court of Appeal. The decision overturns a lower court ruling that upheld a 2021 order by Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara requiring the California FAIR …