Commercial Lines

On March 17, 2011, California's Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the employer has the burden of proving it had a legitimate reason for not reinstating an employee to her former position following FMLA leave. The employee is not required to prove that her employer lacked a reasonable basis for its refusal.|

Where unauthorized treatment is obtained outside a validly established and properly noticed Medical Provider Network, reports from the non-Medical Provider Network doctors are inadmissible. Defendant is not liable for the cost of the non-Medical Provider Network reports.|

The evaluation employers must make regarding an employe's potential return to work under the workers' compensation system is fundamentally different from the reasonable accommodation analysis mandated by the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA). A precedent-setting decision in Cuiellette v. City of Los Angeles reinforces that even when a workers' compensation claim is managed and resolved perfectly, employers may still be at risk for a discrimination lawsuit when they fail to follow the separate Fair Employment and Housing Act process requirements.
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Terminating an injured worker is just about the surest way of inspiring the injured worker and applicant's counsel to push for the full 2-year temporary disability cap. You can bet your bottom dollar that temporary disability — retro and continuing — will quickly become an expensive, hard-fought issue. What do you need to know to avoid the temporary disability trap?|

Ever since the Department of Treasury issued Proposed Regulations in September 2011, there has been increased awareness and “hype” surrounding the use of Series LLCs and their accompanying Special Business Units (“SBUs”) for the formation of captive insurance companies. It seems that many captive providers think this new structure is “better than sliced bread.” In our view, it is just bread.|