A group of lawyers and workers' compensation claimants in California say they will continue their fight against new workers' compensation rules dealing with payments for permanent disability despite the State Supreme Court's refusal yesterday to hear a challenge to the regulations.
The Wednesday court decision denying a hearing for the group was lauded by the American Insurance Association, which said the new rules have allowed companies to reduce workers' compensation insurance rates by 30 percent since July 2003.
"These regulations are designed to bring objectivity to the disability rating process in California and get injured workers back on the job," said Ken Gibson, AIA vice president, Western Region.
"The reforms are working," Mr. Gibson said. "Despite the legal challenges to the regulations, insurers have filed four consecutive rate decreases."
The workers' group and the lawyers that represent them had sought an expedited review of the rules, but the court decided not to take up the case based on arguments by the state attorney general that the proper forum to appeal the rules is the state Workers Compensation Appeals Board and other courts.
Peggy Sugarman, Executive Director of VotersInjuredatWork.org, a claimants organization, said, "I'm sure the industry and the media will say that the court's decision is proof the state was somehow correct in adopting this new schedule and see it as a victory of sorts. It isn't."
She said her group believes "we can prove that the administrative director [of the Workers' Compensation Board] failed to follow the statute and that the whole schedule is illegal. It's just a shame that so many workers will be affected by this schedule before the WCAB hears the merits of our case."
VotersInjuredatWork.org and the California Applicants Attorneys Association are challenging the rules, promulgated by the administration of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to create new workers' compensation permanent disability schedules.
The lawyers and the claimants say that several studies have shown that the Schwarzenegger administration's schedule will reduce permanent disability compensation by an average of 50-to-70 percent.
The case is Votersinjuredatwork.org v. Division of Workers Compensation, Case No. S134236, Supreme Court of California.
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