Workers’ Comp eNews

On May 4, 2022, the California Court of Appeal for the Second District in the case of Michele Earley vs. WCAB issued an Order to Show Cause in response to a petition for a writ of mandate filed by various applicants seeking a writ declaring the “grant-for-study” procedure of the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board (Board) to be unconstitutional and unlawful pursuant to Labor Code sections 5313 and 5909. Read more

The Division of Workers’ Compensation (DWC) today announced in-person hearings will resume at all DWC district offices except Eureka beginning March 21, 2022. In-person hearings will consist of trials, lien trials, expedited hearings and special adjudication unit (SAU) trials only. Read more

Members of the California Lawyers’ Association, Workers’ Compensation Section, Community Outreach Subcommittee participated in Southwestern School of Law’s annual Succeeding in Law event on February 24, 2022. The event is designed to promote a more diverse and inclusive student body among law students. Read more

A new bill barring nondisclosure agreements from settlements in cases featuring discrimination, harassment, or retaliation is going to force employers and defendants to reconfigure how they craft their settlement releases and addenda. Read more

California’s Second District Court of Appeal has rejected employer See’s Candies workers’ compensation “exclusive remedy rule” defense in a COVID wrongful death lawsuit. The suit claims that the disease was contracted from a See’s employee who was negligently exposed to the virus in the workplace. Read more

2022 certainly has not brought the relief I’m sure we had all hoped for. From trouble on the world stage to Omicron these first few months of 2022 have certainly been rough. I encourage you all to take care of your mental and physical health in these trying times. Read more

The Division of Workers’ Compensation (DWC) announces that the 2022 minimum and maximum temporary total disability (TTD) rates will increase on January 1, 2022. The minimum TTD rate will increase from $203.44 to $230.95 and the maximum TTD rate will increase from $1,356.31 to $1,539.71 per week. Read more

The Division of Workers’ Compensation (DWC) is announcing the increase of the mileage rate for medical and medical-legal travel expenses by 2.5 cents to 58.5 cents per mile effective January 1, 2022. Read more

The Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board (WCAB) has adopted its final rules of practice and procedure. The rules were filed with the Secretary of State on December 15, 2021 and went into effect on January 1, 2022. Read more

The Division of Workers’ Compensation (DWC) announced today that as of January 12, 2022, all hearings will be heard virtually. Until further notice, DWC will telephonically hear all trials, lien trials, expedited hearings, and special adjudication unit (SAU) trials. Read more