A recent article from BusinessInsurance.com covers an interesting case.

Normally I don’t post on unpublished opinions because, according to the California Rules of Court, unpublished opinions may not be cited.

The facts of this case are pretty straight forward: plaintiff worked for a construction company that was put to work on the company-boss’s house.  Applicant slipped and fell while at the house and wanted to sue his boss in civil court.  The Court of Appeal sent this one back to the workers’ compensation world.

I am well aware, as I’m sure many of my readers are, that defendants are regularly robbed in California’s Workers’ Compensation system.  Perhaps, if given the option, the defense community would be better off regaining its due process rights and duke these cases out in the civil arena.

That being said, I’m always surprised to see injured workers trying to climb out of the same lobster tank as us defendants.  After all, the workers’ compensation world is a workers’ paradise – why risk the dangers of the civil arena with its burdens of proof, concrete rules of evidence, and systemic accountability when you can have the presumption of compensation and applicant friendly environment of workers’ comp?

When both sides of the table are trying to jump ship – something is definitely wrong, both on the horizon and at the helm.