Undocumented Workers and Comp Benefits: Eligibility, Limits, and Third-Party Claims
Most states cover workers regardless of immigration status, but benefit types, return-to-work rules, and civil damages diverge. A practical…
Category
Workers' Comp
Workers' compensation in California — WCAB rulings, MPN/QME procedure, third-party PI coordination, and the practice-side of comp claims.
Opioid Tapering Disputes in Workers' Comp: Denials, Weaning Plans, and Patient Safety
Carriers increasingly use utilization review to force opioid reductions or end authorization. Applicant counsel need to separate legitimate…
Labor Code 132a Discrimination Claims: Proving the Employer Singled Out the Injured Worker
Section 132a protects California workers from retaliation for industrial injury claims, but the burden is specific and the remedies are mod…
Workers' Comp Medical Provider Liens in California: The DWC Lien Conference Process and How to Resolve Disputed Provider Claims
When a workers' compensation claim closes or settles and the treating medical provider has not been paid, the provider files a lien with th…
Permanent and Stationary in California Workers' Comp: Disputing a Premature MMI Declaration
A treating physician's permanent and stationary declaration ends temporary disability and triggers permanent disability evaluation. When th…
Penalty Petitions in California Workers' Comp: Squeezing the 5814 and 4650 Remedies
Labor Code section 5814 gives the WCAB discretion to add 25 percent on unreasonably delayed compensation. Section 4650(d) adds an automatic…
First Responder PTSD Presumption Statutes: A Growing but Uneven Protection
A wave of state statutes now lets firefighters and police officers claim workers' comp for PTSD without the physical injury courts once req…
Gig Worker Misclassification and Workers' Comp Coverage Disputes After Castellanos
California's top court upheld Proposition 22 in 2024, keeping app-based drivers classified as independent contractors. For injured gig work…
Apportionment Under Labor Code 4663 and 4664: Defending the Permanent Disability Award
California's medical apportionment statutes give defendants a powerful tool for reducing permanent disability awards to industrial causatio…
Average Weekly Wage Calculation for Variable-Income and Gig Workers in California Workers' Comp
The average weekly wage calculation in California workers' comp uses a 52-week earnings lookback and a statutory formula, but the formula p…
Surveillance Video in Workers' Comp: What the Defense Can Shoot, When It Must Disclose, and How to Challenge It
Defense carriers order covert surveillance in high-permanent-disability cases and in cases where the treating physician's work restrictions…
Consequential Psychiatric Injury in California Workers' Comp: When PTSD and Adjustment Disorder Flow From a Physical Claim
A physical workplace injury that causes PTSD, adjustment disorder, or major depression is compensable as a consequential psychiatric injury…