BILL NUMBER: AB 1155 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 30, 2011
AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 12, 2011
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 9, 2011
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 26, 2011
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Members Alejo, Roger Hernández, and Lara
(Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Charles Calderon)
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Allen, Ammiano, Beall, Carter,
Cedillo, Dickinson, Eng, Fong, Furutani, Hueso, Ma, Mendoza, Monning,
Perea, Skinner, Swanson, and Williams)
(Coauthors: Senators Hancock, Leno, Rubio, and Steinberg)
FEBRUARY 18, 2011
An act to amend Section 4663 of the Labor Code, relating to
workers' compensation.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1155, as amended, Alejo. Workers' compensation.
(1) Existing law establishes a workers' compensation system,
administered by the Administrative Director of the Division of
Workers' Compensation, to compensate an employee for injuries
sustained in the course of his or her employment.
This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to prohibit
the use of risk factors and specified characteristics to deny an
injured worker his or her rightful benefit when disabled in the
workplace. The bill would also state the intent of the Legislature to
prohibit the apportionment of risk factors and characteristics
without prohibiting the apportionment of documentable preexisting
nonindustrial causes of disability or holding an employer liable for
any percentage of permanent disability not directly caused by an
injury arising out of and occurring in the course of employment.
(2) Existing law requires any physician who prepares a report
addressing the issue of permanent disability due to a claimed
industrial injury to address the issue of causation of the permanent
disability, and requires that the report include an apportionment
determination in order to be considered complete on the issue of
permanent disability. Existing law requires a phys
ician to make an apportionment determination by finding what
approximate percentage of the permanent disability is caused by the
direct result of injury arising out of and occurring in the course of
employment and what approximate percentage is caused by other
factors.
This bill would prohibit the approximate percentage of the
permanent disability caused by other factors from including
consideration of race, religious creed, color, national
origin, age, gender, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, or
genetic characteristics from being considered a cause or
other factor of disability considered in any determination made
pursuant to those provisions .
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 4663 of the Labor Code is amended to read:
4663. (a) Apportionment of permanent disability shall be based on
causation.
(b) Any physician who prepares a report addressing the issue of
permanent disability due to a claimed industrial injury shall in that
report address the issue of causation of the permanent disability.
(c) In order for a physician's report to be considered complete on
the issue of permanent disability, the report shall include an
apportionment determination. A physician shall make an apportionment
determination by finding what approximate percentage of the permanent
disability is caused by the direct result of injury arising out of
and occurring in the course of employment and what approximate
percentage of the permanent disability is caused by other factors
both before and subsequent to the industrial injury, including prior
industrial injuries. The approximate percentage of the permanent
disability caused by other factors shall not include consideration
of race, religious creed, color, national origin, age, gender,
marital status, sex, sexual orientation, or genetic characteristics.
If the physician is unable to include an apportionment
determination in his or her report, the physician shall state the
specific reasons why the physician cannot make a determination of the
effect of that prior condition on the permanent disability arising
from the injury. The physician shall then consult with other
physicians or refer the employee to another physician from whom the
employee is authorized to seek treatment or evaluation in accordance
with this division in order to make the final determination.
Race, religious creed, color, national origin, age, gender, marital
status, sex, sexual orientation, or genetic characteristics shall not
be considered a cause or other factor of disability with regard to
any determination made under this section.
(d) An employee who claims an industrial injury shall, upon
request, disclose all previous permanent disabilities or physical
impairments.
(e) Subdivisions (a), (b), and (c) shall not apply to injuries or
illnesses covered under Sections 3212, 3212.1, 3212.2, 3212.3,
3212.4, 3212.5, 3212.6, 3212.7, 3212.8, 3212.85, 3212.9, 3212.10,
3212.11, 3212.12, 3213, and 3213.2.
(f) For purposes of this section, "genetic characteristics" has
the same meaning as that term is defined in subdivision (d) of
Section 10123.3 of the Insurance Code.
SEC. 2. (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(1) Under the state's workers' compensation system, injured
workers or their dependents are entitled to certain benefits that
include compensation for permanent partial disability or death
arising out of, and in the course of, employment, without regard to
fault. In return, employers are shielded from civil liability in any
claims of negligence related to the employee's injury.
(2) Workers' compensation benefits should never be based on the
personal characteristics and risk factors of the employee, and their
use runs counter to the original intent of apportionment.
(b) It is the intent of the Legislature to ensure that risk
factors and characteristics of race, religious creed, color, national
origin, age, gender, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, or
genetic characteristics are not used to deny an injured worker his or
her rightful benefit when disabled in the workplace.
(c) It is the intent of the Legislature to prohibit the
apportionment of risk factors and characteristics without prohibiting
the apportionment of documentable preexisting nonindustrial causes
of disability in individual cases or without holding an employer
liable for any percentage of permanent disability not directly caused
by the injury arising out of and occurring in the course of
employment.