JURISDICTION AND SUBROGATION

In Smith v. New York Giants, 2014 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS 109, the WCAB declined to exercise jurisdiction over a professional football player's claim because his last two employment contracts provided that exclusive jurisdiction for resolving workers' compensation disputes was New Jersey.

In Elsheref v. Applied Materials, Inc. (2014) 79 CCC 207, the 6th District Court of Appeal held that an employer did not owe a preconception duty of care to a minor who was born with birth defects that allegedly were caused by his father’s exposure to chemicals during his employment.

THE BUSINESS OF INSURANCE

In Mendoza v. Jeff Greene, dba Millennium Holdings, Inc., dba Hollywood Realty, Inc., 2014 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS 72, the WCAB affirmed a WCJ's order requiring an insurer to notify the employer of its right to independent counsel under San Diego Navy Federal Credit Union v. Cumis Insurance Society, Inc. (1984) 162 Cal. App. 3d 358.

INJURY

In Habtezghi v. RR Donnelley, 2014 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS 60, the WCAB concluded that an injury was not compensable. An applicant claimed that he was injured when he was struck by a bundle of falling paper, but the employer offered surveillance video showing him pulling the bundle onto his back.

In Molter v. Advantage Resourcing, 2014 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS 129, the WCAB concluded that an applicant's claim was not barred by LC 3600(a)(10) because the employer had notice of an injury, even though the applicant did not officially report the injury before his termination.

In Fujimoto v. Caliber Collision Centers, 2014 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS 118, the WCAB held that an applicant did not sustain an industrial injury to his psyche when he failed to prove that he was harassed at work.

In Schultz v. Joint Test, 2014 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS 138, the WCAB  held that an applicant's injury was barred by the going and coming rule and that he did not prove any exception to that rule.

In Meerson v. Bishop Conaty Our Lady of Loretto High School, 2014 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS 101, the WCAB held that a teacher injured en route to a Saturday morning detention session was not on a special mission.

In Evans v. San Joaquin Regional Transit District, 2014 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS 56, the WCAB held that an applicant's injury in a motor vehicle accident while en route to an AME examination was not compensable because the AME ultimately found that the applicant did not sustain a compensable injury.

STATUTES OF LIMITATIONS

In Nguyen v. Ikea, 2014 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS 131, the WCAB held that an applicant's claim was not barred by the statute of limitations when the employer breached a duty to give him notice of the time limits for instituting proceedings before the WCAB, and then later provided him with notice that misconstrued the law regarding the statute of limitations.

MEDICAL TREATMENT

In Perez v. TS Staffing, 2014 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS 132, the WCAB held that interpreters were not entitled to payment for services performed at 14 medical treatment appointments when they failed to prove that they were certified or provisionally certified.

In Gonzalez v. American Apparel, Inc., 2014 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS 120, the WCAB rescinded a WCJ's determination that the applicant take nothing by way of her application, and held that reports of secondary treating physicians were admissible even if they were not reviewed and incorporated by the primary treating physician.

In Weilmann v. United Temporary Service (2014) ADJ3299212; ADJ1198812 (panel decision), the WCAB upheld a WCJ's determination that utilization review determinations suffered from material procedural defects based on a failure of all of the reviewing physicians to sign their reports, and the failure to provide the relevant AME reports that explained the necessity of the requested treatments.

In Gomez v. Facilities Support Services (2014) ADJ290453 (panel decision), the WCAB rescinded a WCJ's decision that an applicant's medical treatment for his knee must be addressed through the IMR process when the judge also found that the UR process was "flawed" because it incorrectly stated that the applicant's knee was a denied body part.

In Lim v. Torrance BCD, Inc., 2014 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS 125, the WCAB affirmed a WCJ's decision that an applicant was entitled to treat outside of the defendant's MPN when the employer failed to arrange an initial medical evaluation under CCR 9767.6.

PERMANENT DISABILITY

In Tallent v. Infinite Resources, Inc., 2014 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS 141, the WCAB affirmed a WCJ's decision that a QME chiropractor was qualified to opine on all impairments found within the four corners of the AMA guides, and that he was not limited to commenting on AMA guide impairments that fall strictly within a chiropractic scope of treatment.

In Fetner v. Long Beach Fire Department, City of Long Beach, 2014 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS 91, the WCAB affirmed a WCJ's decision that the defendant was entitled to have its vocational expert interview the applicant without using the procedure defined in LC 5710 for depositions.

PENALTIES AND SANCTIONS

In Marzett v. Pacific Gas & Electric Co., 2014 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS 69, the WCAB affirmed sanctions under LC 5813 of $1,500 against a defense attorney for altering an order approving a compromise and release after it was executed by the WCJ.

DISCOVERY AND SETTLEMENT

In Wood v. Vons Safeway Inc., 2014 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS 85, the WCAB denied a union trust fund's petition to compel service of medical reports, per LC 4903.6(d).

In Mayne v. Intel Corp., 2014 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS 70, the WCAB affirmed a WCJ's decision that LC 4062.2(f), which provides that an AME must be cancelled by mutual written consent, did not preclude an applicant from unilaterally terminating an AME agreement when the doctor failed to timely issue supplemental reports, even though the delay was due to his wife's illness.

LITIGATION

In Hulsebos v. UCLA Medical Center, 2014 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS 98, the WCAB denied removal of an applicant's petition claiming that she would be harmed because her MSC was changed from Santa Barbara to Oxnard.

In Godoy v. Cargill Beef Packers, 2014 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS 59, the WCAB rescinded a WCJ's order consolidating three cases filed by an injured worker, two of which were filed against one employer, and the other against a subsequent employer.

In Iniguez v. Foster Farms, 2014 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS 99, the WCAB sanctioned an applicant's attorney per LC 5813 and reduced an award of fees when the attorney filed a frivolous petition for reconsideration seeking increased fees.

In Martinez v. Monarch dba PES Payroll, 2014 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS 68, the WCAB affirmed an arbitrator's determination that a payroll company was an employer for the purposes of workers' compensation.

Complete discussion of these topics can be found in Sullivan On Comp available to subscribers at http://www.workcompcentral.com/sullivan.

Michael Sullivan is the founder of Michael Sullivan & Associates LLP, a workers' compensation defense firm with five offices in Southern California, and author of "Sullivan on Comp," a treatise on California workers' compensation law.