A court in California has ruled that the state did not have a sufficient interest in a workers' compensation claim filed by a professional basketball player who had played only one game in California and, therefore, it could not apply California's workers' compensation law to the player's claim or retain jurisdiction over the case.

The Case

After Adrienne Johnson graduated from Ohio State University in 1997, she was drafted by the Cleveland Rockers, a professional basketball team in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), and played for them for two years. She next played for the Orlando Miracle, which became the Connecticut Sun in 2003.

In December 2003, an MRI revealed that she had a knee injury, for which she had surgery in 2004. Although Johnson did not play during the 2004 season, she signed with the Seattle Storm and practiced with that team in Seattle in 2005. She did not play for that team during the 2005 regular season and has not played in any professional games since the end of the 2003 season. During that season, she played one game in Los Angeles, California, on July 20, 2003.

Johnson filed a workers' compensation claim in Connecticut in August 2003 for the injury to her right knee; her claim was resolved by a $30,000 payment to her.

After leaving professional basketball, Johnson asserted that she had discomfort in her knee, hip and shoulder. A medical examiner opined in 2010 that she had chronic conditions in her shoulder, spine, hip and ankle. Another medical examiner noted that her irritable bowel syndrome symptoms were related to her orthopedic problems.

Johnson made a claim against the Connecticut Sun for workers' compensation and filed an application for adjudication of her claim with the California Division of Workers' Compensation/Workers' Compensation Appeals Board for her multiple basketball injuries.

The workers' compensation judge (WCJ) awarded disability indemnity. The Workers' Compensation Appeals Board rescinded the award and returned the matter to the WCJ for further proceedings to apportion the compensation between this injury and the past injuries for which Johnson already had received workers' compensation benefits in Connecticut.

The Connecticut Sun and its insurer, Federal Insurance Company, sought relief in the courts, contending that the board did not have jurisdiction over Johnson's claim.

The Court's Decision

The court held that California did not have a sufficient interest in the matter to apply its workers' compensation law or to retain jurisdiction over the case.

The court rejected Johnson's contention that California law could apply because her injuries allegedly were cumulative and the single game that she had played in Los Angeles had contributed to her injuries and ensuing disability. It found that the “effects of participating in 1 of 34 games” did not amount to a “cumulative injury warranting the invocation of California law.”

According to the court, a state “must have a legitimate interest in the injury” and a single basketball game played by a professional player did “not create a legitimate interest in injuries that [could not] be traced factually to one game.”

Moreover, the court continued, the situs of Johnson's employment relationship was Connecticut or New Jersey, not California. The places of Johnson's injuries, employment relationship, employment contract, and residence, all possible connections for the application of a state's workers' compensation law, did not have any relationship to California, the court determined.

The court concluded by finding that California did not have a sufficient relationship with Ms. Johnson's injuries to make the application of California's workers' compensation law reasonable, and that it had no obligation to apply the workers' compensation law of any other state.

The case is Federal Ins. Co. v. Workers' Compensation Appeals Board, No. B249201 (Cal.Ct.App. Dec. 3, 2013). Attorneys involved include: Law Offices of Dean M. Stringfellow, Dean M. Stringfellow for Petitioner; Law Offices of Mark A. Slipock, Mark A. Slipock for Respondent Adrienne Johnson.

FC&S Legal Comment

It should be noted that, under a recent amendment to California law, the state's workers' compensation law does not apply to those professional athletes who spend less than 20 percent of their working days as a professional athlete in California. Stats.2013, ch. 653, §1.

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