Articles

SRTK Celebrates 43 Years

SRTK is proud to celebrate our 43rd anniversary of being California’s leading workers’ compensation defense firm. Thank you to our clients and team members for your continued partnership! You continue to show that we are stronger together!  

Read More

Recent Important Changes At Our Firm

Clients and Friends of the Firm,
In light of the recent retirements of SRTK shareholders practicing in Northern California, and considering our ability to remotely handle cases as a result of CA’s post-pandemic workers’ compensation landscape, we have decided to consolidate our operations to our Southern California offices.

Read More

Updated Requirements for Workplace Postings Offer Employers Flexibility

Employers adjusting to a remote workforce or who have employees who do not often come into the office still maintain a duty to post notices in the workplace, including under LC 3550/8CCR 9881. Pursuant to the newly-adopted LC 1207, effective 1/1/22 employers may now ALSO email the information to employees.

Read More

Kathleen Roberts Earns Take Nothing In Trucker Case Alleging Psychiatric Injury Over Epithet

Kathleen Roberts, Managing Shareholder of SRTK’s San Jose office, recently earned a take nothing in a case involving a trucker who claimed a psychiatric injury following an incident involving an alleged racial slur. The claimant sought an estimated $40,000 in retroactive TTD over 18 months, and would have included an unknown percentage of PD, which had not yet been evaluated.

Read More

Employers: Stay Ahead of Additional Reporting and Posting Requirements for COVID-19

The global health crisis has spurred numerous pieces of legislation related to workers’ compensation, with a maze of requirements to navigate. Now, more than ever, it is important for employers to carefully take into consideration all applicable rules and regulations to ensure compliance and minimize risk.

Read More

Deadline for Reporting COVID-19 Cases is October 29th – Don’t put yourself at risk!

The updated Labor Code section 3212.88 requires employers to report to their claims administrator ALL positive test results for COVID-19 by their employees (whether a claim has been filed or not).

Read More

Key Highlights of the COVID Presumption Law

Senate Bill 1159 and AB 685 stand to be a huge consideration in workers’ compensation cases due to COVID-19. Please review our “Key Highlights of the COVID Presumption Law,” and contact us if you have questions about what the law means for you.

Read More

SRTK Statement on Recent Events

As a firm that both celebrates and finds strength in our diversity, SRTK is deeply saddened by the recent events in our communities across the US. We stand by those who are passionately yet peacefully opposing oppression of any form and we will continue to support our clients, team members, colleagues, and communities through a commitment to diversity and inclusion in both the workplace and the world.

Read More

Executive Order N-62-20 Best Practices

Read our summary of Gavin Newsom’s Executive order N-62-20 on coronavirus (COVID-19), and our suggestions for best practices in addressing such claims.

Read More

Workers’ Compensation Claims and Coronavirus Layoffs: Disability Liability For Workers on Modified Duty

If an employee was working modified duty under a workers’ compensation claim, and they are laid off, there is a substantial question of whether they are entitled to TTD under the workers’ compensation claim. 

Read More

A Message From SRTK’s Shareholders to Our Friends, Families and Valued Clients Regarding Coronavirus COVID-19

In this unsettled time, we want to reach out to you personally. Our thoughts and prayers are with you and your families during this time and always. At SRTK our priority is our workers’ compensation community throughout the nation, including all of our employees and those of our clients.

Read More

Please Donate to SRTK Northern California Fire Relief

Many of our team members were severely impacted by the recent fires in Northern California. The firm has already donated to their relief, and we want to ask our community to also help in this difficult time. All donations will help our assistants and administrative staff displaced by the fires.

Read More

Preventing Employee Abuse of Temporary Disability Provisions

The provision of temporary disability (TD) is intended to be mutually beneficial to the employer and to the employee. The employee is entitled to funds during the period of medical rehabilitation following an industrial injury, and the employer can reasonably expect this individual — in whom a substantial amount of training and experience were invested … Continued

Read More

Timothy Kinsey Writes WorkCompCentral Article on Detecting Fraud

Shareholder, CFO and Treasurer Timothy Kinsey has published an article in WorkCompCentral’s Work Comp World blog discussing red flags that can signal fraud in the workers’ compensation system.

Read More

Taking the 5th In Workers’ Compensation Proceedings

The recent media headlines contain a daily recitation of the politicians, or their underlings, who have faced criminal charges and subsequently threatened to “take the Fifth.” The Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution provides that “no person shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself.” That right is reflected … Continued

Read More

Jeff Stander Writes WorkCompCentral Article on Challenging Witness Credibility

Of Counsel Jeff Stander has published an article in WorkCompCentral’s Work Comp World blog detailing strategies for challenging a witness’ credibility in a work injury case. 

Read More

California DWC Publishes List of Entities Holding Stayed Liens

The Division of Workers’ Compensation has published a digital list of entities that are believed to have filed liens on behalf of criminally charged providers.

Read More

Appellate Court to Review Five-Year Cap on TD Payments

The California Workers’ Compensation Institute has filed an amicus brief with the 4th District Court of Appeal arguing that the California Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board (WCAB) “judicially rewrote” a statutory cap on temporary disability duration when it awarded benefits to an injured worker more than five years after the injury occurred.

Read More

Building a Sound Workers’ Compensation Case, Especially Concerning PD

All workers’ compensation practitioners know that they must conduct the proper due diligence and research to build a credible and legitimate case. Recent Noteworthy Panel Decisions (NPDs) can expose practitioner flaws as well as shed light on how to properly build and defend a case.

Read More

CMS Names New Workers’ Compensation Review Contractor

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has named a new Workers’ Compensation Review Contractor after some delay. Additionally, CMS also released figures for how much it recovered in Medicare conditional payments from primary payers in 2016.

Read More

How to Choose a Workers’ Comp Defense Attorney

There are certain things you should know when you choose your workers’ comp defense attorney and other attorneys associated therewith. The purpose of this article is to help you choose a workers’ comp defense attorney who proactively, as opposed to reactively, can help resolve your claims in a manner beneficial to the interests of the … Continued

Read More

The Cumulative Trauma Claim

Cumulative trauma injuries are quickly becoming one of the more difficult areas of law for clients to deal with in California workers’ compensation claims.

Read More

Tim Kinsey Quoted in Work Comp Central

SRTK’s Tim Kinsey was recently quoted in Sherri Okamoto’s Work Comp Central article “’Going and Coming’ Rule Doesn’t Apply to Worker Commuting Between Job Sites.” The article summarizes a California appellate court’s decision that denied benefits to a government-employed in-home caretaker who was injured while traveling between the homes of two clients. Although a judge … Continued

Read More

Apportionment and Genetic Factors of Disability

The Court of Appeal, Third Appellate District, in City of Jackson v. WCAB (Rice) (4/26/17), has issued a decision that will provide substantial assistance in achieving the Legislature’s directive in Labor Code Section 4663 with respect to apportionment.

Read More

Applicant Must Prove His Case

Can an injured worker receive benefits to which he fails to prove entitlement?

Read More

Temporary Disability When Treatment Is Not Authorized By UR

The Legislature created for industrially injured employees the right to receive Temporary Disability benefits in order to afford them with a stream of income during the recuperation period for the purpose of expediting their return to work.

Read More

Saldana v Color Spot Nurseries

Occasionally, the Courts enable the perpetuation of gamesmanship. In Saldana v Color Spot Nurseries 2017 Cal.Wrk. Comp. P.D. 46, the employee asserted four Applications alleging injury AOE/COE to multiple body parts.

Read More

Cortez v International Resources Group

Can a physician’s report be thrown out where one party communicates with the practitioner?

Read More

Garcia v Yirae Fashions

In Garcia v Yirae Fashions 2017 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS 30, the Court addressed the proper procedure for challenging the specialty designated in a QME panel request.

Read More

The Use of Surveillance Film In a Workers’ Compensation Claim

Joe Smith, a surly, disgruntled, sub-optimum, morbidly obese individual, has claimed the occurrence of an industrial injury to his back.

Read More

Galleano Winery, Inc. v WCAB (Macias)

In Galleano Winery, Inc. v WCAB (Macias) (1997) 61 CCC 1547, the Court declared that the workers’ compensation process will be perverted where there is any “exercise in gamesmanship.”

Read More

Tricks of the Trade When Calculating Temporary Disability Rate

California workers’ compensation offers applicants temporary disability (TD) payment.

Read More

The Potential Ripple Effect of the Repeal of Obamacare

According to the Legislative Analyst’s Office’s February 17, 2017 report, the repeal of the 2010 Affordable Care Act could have substantial ramifications to the State of California.

Read More

Defending a Second Panel Obtained By Filing a Cumulative Trauma Claim

The Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board recently issued its decision in Feige v State of California 2017 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS 10.

Read More

Recent Noteworthy Panel Decisions

Recent Noteworthy Panel Decisions (NPDs) involving the determination of an applicant’s official date of injury and the statute of limitations as well as who is liable for the applicant’s injury.

Read More

Removing Fraudulent Providers from the System – SB 1160 and AB 1244

No two words within the Workers’ Compensation system create more of a universal repugnance than lien claimant. The stench of the fraudulent medical providers has been exacerbated by their apparent ability to impose upon the employers of this state responsibility for satisfying their liens.

Read More

The Differing Types of Independent Medical Review – LC §4610 v. LC §4616

Independent Medical Review. Although the words appear clear, confusion exists in their application, depending upon the statute that is utilized.

Read More

Addressing Fraud with New Legislation – SB 1160 and AB 1244

Numerous efforts were undertaken in years past to eliminate fraud from the workers’ compensation system.

Read More

Telemedicine, can it work in California’s Workers’ Compensation System?

Many times, it’s difficult to tell the future when it comes to predicting the evolution of our ever evolving workers’ compensation system.

Read More

Application for Adjudication of Claim

Sally Smith filed an Application for Adjudication of Claim alleging that she sustained an industrial injury to her psyche because she heard gossip in the work place that she had been having an extra-marital affair, that she’s a home-wrecker and a husband-stealer.

Read More

Liars In Workers’ Compensation

For the past 18 months, Dalene Bartholomew of Probe Investigations and I have been presenting at conferences regarding deceit and fraud detection strategies. This article distills much of that presentation.

Read More

Contribution vs. Reimbursement

There is a lot of confusion as to what is Contribution and what is Reimbursement, and of course what is the appropriate method of dispute resolution for each. By knowing what type of supplementary proceeding you are dealing with we can take the appropriate action to protect or even advance our client’s interests.

Read More

Claims & Lost Wages – LC §132a

In the case of Victoria Lacheta v. Olympic Security Services (2014 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS 324), applicant prevailed in her wrongful termination claim against her employer; however, she failed to sustain her burden of entitlement to lost wages six years after the initial Findings and Award. This case poses two questions: (1) Does the … Continued

Read More