Use of the Fifth Amendment in Workers' Compensation
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The Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitutes protects individuals from being forced to testify against themselves. Although the Fifth Amendment itself states that a person shall not "be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself," it has been held that, "It also privileges a person not to answer official questions in any other proceeding, civil or criminal, formal or informal, where he or she reasonably believes the answers might incriminate him or her in a criminal case." (Spielbauer v. County of Santa Clara (2009) 45 Cal. 4th 704, 714.) Accordingly, the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination also is recognized in workers' compensation proceedings.