Workers Comp Zone

A Partner at Boxer & Gerson LLP, Julius Young has practiced worker’s compensation law and social security disability law since 1979. He has represented thousands of individuals who have sustained life-changing injuries or illnesses while on the job. In every case, his goal is to secure the medical treatments his clients need.

March 31, 2023

IS AB 5 IMPERILED? ANOTHER UBER VICTORY

On March 17, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit published its opinion in a challenge to AB 5 filed by Postmates, Uber and two driver plaintiffs (see link to the decision at the end of this post). This is a critical juncture in the gig-worker legal wars. The court reversed a […]


March 14, 2023

COURT OF APPEAL RULES ON CHALLENGE TO PROP 22

The legal wars about the gig economy continue. On March 13, the California Court of Appeal 1st District rendered its decision in Hector Castellanos v. State of California, an appeal from an Alameda County Superior Court decision which had ruled that Prop 22 (the “Protect App-based Drivers and Services Act”, i.e. Business & Professions Code […]


February 14, 2023

THE “WHO’S COUNTING?” E-MAIL

A “Workers’ Comp Briefing” e-mail from the California Applicants Attorneys Association caught my eye this morning. Titled “Who’s Counting”, the e-mail says this: “For decades, Workers’ Compensation debates have been dominated by “data”… individual injured workers’ experiences have been routinely dismissed as “anecdotal.” The data has been routinely provided by the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Research […]


January 4, 2023

2022: THE TOP 10 CALIFORNIA WORKERS’ COMP DEVELOPMENTS

At the end of 2022, it’s time to assess the significant things that happened in California workers’ comp this year. What follows is an attempt to separate the signal from the noise. I’ve added links to explanatory material. 1. Governor Newsom made two appointments to the California Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board  In August 2022, Newsom appointed […]


December 21, 2022

FACTS AND FICTION

How can we separate fact from fiction in workers’ compensation? What sources do we trust? And what should we trust when it comes to workers’ comp? The California Commission on Health and Safety and Workers’ Compensation (CHSWC) has been struggling with this. Current CHSWC commissioners have expressed concerns over the quality of recent contracted system studies. […]


November 16, 2022

DWC CALLS FOR IDEAS TO IMPROVE WORKERS COMP

The California Division of Workers’ Compensation has scheduled a December 6, 2022 public meeting to hear ideas on improving California’s workers’ comp system. The in-person meeting, open to the public, will be held Tuesday December 6 at 10 am in the auditorium at the Elihu Harris State Office Building in Oakland. It’s been a long […]


October 26, 2022

LYFT ATTEMPTS STIFF ARM

A recent WCAB panel decision highlights some of the issues surrounding workers’ comp claims against the gig-worker platform rideshare companies. The case, Murguia v. Lyft, can be seen at the bottom of this post. The 2018 California Supreme Court decision in Dynamex Operations West, Inc. v. Superior Court  adopted the ABC test to determine employment […]