The Importance of Understanding Legal Authorities in Workers' Compensation Cases

• Jurisdiction: California,United States
• Author: James Rossi, Esq.
• Publication year: 2021
• Citation: Vol. 34 No. 1

The Importance of Understanding Legal Authorities in Workers' Compensation Cases

James Rossi, Esq.

Simi Valley, California

Over the years, you have probably heard or read about changes in the law, big cases that have come down, and the like. Each time a new legal authority arises, it is important to know the impact that authority has on the state of the law. To assist in determining the value of a legal authority, this article discusses the relevance of the most common types of legal authorities in California workers' compensation.

For starters, the mother of all legal authority in California workers' compensation is the California Constitution. The Constitution provides the Legislature with the power to create the workers' compensation system (Cal. Const., art. XIV, §4). All statutes, rules, and court decisions must be consistent with the Constitution.

Next in line are the statutes the California Legislature has passed, which can be invalidated only if they are unconstitutional. The Labor Code is the primary statutory authority for workers' compensation (see generally Lab. Code §3200 et seq.).

Then there is the California Code of Regulations, which includes numerous rules that serve to codify the rules and procedures of administrative law. Only a portion of the rules pertains to workers' compensation. They are enforceable law but must be consistent with the Labor Code. Mendoza v. Huntington Hospital (2010) 75 Cal.Comp.Cases 634, 640-1 (appeals board en banc). Statutory authority to adopt or change codes is granted to the administrative director and the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board (Cal. Code Regs. §§5307, 5307.3). Public hearings are generally required to go forward before adoption (Cal. Code Regs. §5307.4).

Once the Legislature passes the statutes and the rules are created, the laws must somehow be enforced. This is where the various courts come in. The courts issue opinions that interpret the law.

A case starts in the WCAB. Once all levels of the WCAB are exhausted (discussed later in this article), the case can go to the California Court of Appeal and, on very rare occasions, all the way up to the California Supreme Court. Various types of court decisions are rendered, and it is very important to know the type of opinion and which court issued it to know its persuasive value.

The WCAB

The case will start in a local district office of the WCAB (Cal. Code Regs. §10455, subd. (f))). A local WCJ will issue a decision at the trial level (Lab. Code §5309)...