ADJ9094160 — California WCAB decision

What the panel ordered

Findings and Order issued on June 11, 2019, affirmed

Petition for Reconsideration granted to further study factual and legal issues; decision after reconsideration issued affirming prior Findings and Order

Read the official decision →

What was disputed, and how it came out

Each issue the panel decided, with the reasoning it gave. An outcome is what this panel did on this record — not a rule, and not a prediction.

Jurisdiction / venueDefendant prevailed

The Rapid City Thrillers waived personal jurisdiction by making a general appearance and entering into a Compromise and Release; insurance coverage existed for California; liability under section 5500.5 was properly assigned to Rapid City Thrillers; applicant cannot proceed against Tulsa Fast Breakers as last year of injurious exposure liability falls on Rapid City Thrillers who settled.

From the decision · page 75500.5 because applicant did not play a single game with them in California, and thus, no personal jurisdiction exists over the Rapid City Thrillers Applicant further argues that no insurance coverage existed in California and that any dispute as to coverage should have gone to mandatory arbitration.

The facts that decided it

What the panel treated as outcome-determinative, and which side it favoured.

The rules the panel named

Authorities as the decision cited them, with how this panel applied each one.

International Shoe Co. v. Washington (1945) 326 U.S. 310

Personal jurisdiction requires minimum contacts with the forum state to satisfy due process.

Applied to determine personal jurisdiction over Rapid City Thrillers.

From the decision · page 5Due process requires that a defendant have certain minimum contacts with a state so that the maintenance of an action in the state does not offend traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice. (International Shoe Co. v. Washington (1945) 326 U.S. 310 [66 S. Ct. 154, 90 L. Ed. 95].)

Labor Code section 5500.5(a)

Liability under Labor Code section 5500.5 falls on the last year of lawfully insured employment if employers are uninsured.

Applied to assign liability to Rapid City Thrillers as last lawfully insured employer.

From the decision · page 7In the event that none of the employers during the above referenced periods of occupational disease or cumulative injury are insured for workers' compensation coverage or an approved alternative thereof, liability shall be imposed upon the last year of employment exposing the employee to the hazards of the occupational disease or cumulative injury for which an employer is insured for workers' compensation coverage or an approved alternative thereof.

Labor Code section 5275

Disputes over insurance coverage are subject to mandatory arbitration under Labor Code section 5275, but coverage admitted by insurer is not disputable.

Applied to reject applicant's argument that coverage dispute should go to arbitration.

From the decision · page 9The last argument raised is that the WCJ was without power to find that insurance coverage existed with the Rapid City Thrillers as issues of coverage are subject to mandatory arbitration. (§ 5275.) This argument borders on frivolous. Section 5275 exists to resolve disputes when coverage is denied. When an insurance company admits that coverage exists, applicant cannot dispute coverage in good faith.

ADJ9094160 · November 13, 2024

What the panel ordered

What was disputed, and how it came out

The facts that decided it

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What the panel did with the medical opinions

The rules the panel named

What proof carried it

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