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URGENT REPORT: Civil Claims Against Utilization Review Physicians

The exclusive remedy rule limits an employee's remedies against an employer for injuries sustained during the course of the employment. The purpose of the exclusive remedy rule is to protect the employer's side of the compensation bargain. Under the compensation bargain, the employer assumes liability for industrial personal injury or death without regard to fault in exchange for limitations on the amount of that liability. The employee is given relatively swift and certain payment of benefits to cure or relieve the effects of industrial injury without having to prove fault but, in exchange, gives up the wider range of damages potentially available in tort.

What Qualifies as a Request for a Medical Evaluation Pursuant to Labor Code 4060?

In disputed cases, parties often rush to request a panel QME in a desired specialty. Per Labor Code § 4062.2(b), when an employee is represented by an attorney seeking an evaluation under § 4060, a QME panel may be requested "No earlier than the first working day that is at least 10 days after the date of mailing of a request for a medical evaluation pursuant to Section 4060 ...." The mailbox rule extends this time period for five calendar days if the physical address of the party being served with the first written proposal is within California. But what is a "request for a medical evaluation pursuant to Section 4060"?

Use of the Fifth Amendment in Workers' Compensation

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.

Psychiatric Impairment Under Labor Code § 4660.1(c)

Can the Deposition of an Injured Worker's Spouse be Compelled in Workers' Compensation Proceedings?

The law establishes a marital privilege protecting a person from testifying against his or her spouse. Although this privilege is commonly used in criminal proceedings, it applies to more than that.