Firm Prevails on Important Jurisdictional Question Involving Professional Athlete CT Claims
on Feb 11 in Latest News
Peterson, Colantoni, Collins & Davis prevailed in an important case for the National Football League and other professional sports leagues when the WCAB granted reconsideration in the case of Vaughn Booker v. Cincinnati Bengals.
The WCAB issued an Opinion and Decision After Reconsideration wherein the Board found that there is no subject matter jurisdiction over the Cincinnati Bengals based on Labor Code section 3600.5(b). The WCAB states that a player who comes to California one time is not regularly employed in California and as such, there is simply no jurisdiction over the Bengals. The Bengals were self insured in Ohio for workers’ compensation, provided coverage for their players if any injury occurred in California and because Ohio has a statute which recognizes the extra-territorial provisions of California’s Labor Code, the claim is barred.
This has been an important issue in California workers’ compensation cases in the past several years. Currently, a number of cases involving this same issue are with the WCAB on reconsideration and it would appear from this decision that they will all be barred based on a lack of subject matter jurisdiction.
To read the decision, please click here.