Seventy years have passed since the enactment of Labor Code §4850 in 1939. This statute, designed particularly to compensate police officers and firefighters for the dangerous activities they undertake on behalf of public safety, enabled safety officers who sustain industrial injuries to be paid full salary for one year without the waiting period required for temporary disability benefits.
Despite that beneficial legislation, however, the City of San Diego created a series of artificial barriers minimizing the injured worker’s ability to receive the full cup of justice. For example, an injured safety member could be denied industrial leave benefits solely on the existence of a pre-existing condition which may have been asymptomatic and non-disabling for years prior to the worker’s job-related injury. As a result of that and other artificial barriers, the City of San Diego has been providing sub-par benefits in comparison to those offered by other agencies in the event a police officer or firefighter sustains an industrial injury.
But no longer. The exciting news is that Assembly Bill 1227 by Assemblyperson Feuer was signed by Gov. Schwarzenegger on October 11, 2009, and finally, the long-standing artificial barriers have been removed, and City of San Diego police officers and firefighters will now be eligible to receive benefits comparable to what other police and fire agencies have received since 1939. At last, the intended benefit of Labor Code §4850 will positively impact City of San Diego employees for injuries occurring after January 1, 2010.
Recently, all California workers had been negatively affected with the enactment of Labor Code §4656. The City of San Diego had utilized this statute, stating that San Diego safety workers (i.e., police officers and firefighters), like all other workers, were subject to the 104-week limitation of payment of temporary disability benefits. In a case out of Oakland, California, in January 2007, the Court stated that employees eligible for benefits pursuant to Labor Code §4850 are not subject to the 104-week limitation on temporary disability because of the special meaning of Labor Code §4850. To subject recipients of benefits pursuant to Labor Code §4850 to the two-year rule would be inconsistent with the purpose of Labor Code §4850, which was to acknowledge and compensate safety workers for the extraordinarily dangerous activities they undertake; and it would also be contrary to the legislative intent of Assembly Bill 899.
Under the program the City of San Diego has been forcing on safety members, any dispute as to eligibility for benefits or length of benefits (i.e., industrial leave) would be resolved at a quasi-judicial hearing where a City employee would allegedly be functioning as a judicial officer. This system clearly was a failure.
Under Labor Code §4850, the safety member has the absolute right to litigate his or her case before a Workers’ Compensation judge — not an employee of the City of San Diego. The Workers’ Compensation judge is separate, distinct and independent from the City of San Diego. With the new legislation, City of San Diego safety workers will at last have access to prompt and fair remedies that previously did not exist.
California Legislators and the Governor recognize the inadequacy of systems such as that utilized by the City of San Diego and have attempted to right this wrong through legislative enactment. For injuries occurring after 12/31/09, you, the safety member, will now be in a position to maintain your economic equilibrium — focusing on improving your health and returning to work in a timely manner — without losing your house or car, or jeopardizing your family structure. And if there is a dispute, you will now have the same access to the full cup of justice other agencies have had since 1939.
— by Scott A. O’Mara
THE LAW OFFICES OF
Scott A. O’Mara
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