California lawmaker introduces bill to expedite terrorism-related comp claims
Posted On: Dec. 6, 2016 12:50 PM CST
California state Assemblywoman Eloise Reyes has introduced a bill that would expedite the workers compensation process for those injured in terrorist attacks or workplace violence.
Assembly Bill 44, introduced Monday, comes on the heels of public outcry over the review process that has reportedly complicated treatment for injured workers in the San Bernardino, California, terrorist attack on Dec. 2, 2015. Fourteen people were killed and 22 seriously injured when two assailants fired into a rented banquet room at the county’s Inland Regional Center, where about 80 office workers were having a holiday party.
According to the legislative counsel’s digest, the bill would amend the labor code and “exempt medical treatment for employees or first responders who sustain physical or psychological injury as a result of an act of terrorism or violence in the workplace from the utilization review process and the independent medical review process, and would provide for an expedited proceeding before the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board to resolve disputes regarding treatment.”
It would also apply retroactively to the employees and first responders injured in the San Bernardino terrorist attack and any other employees or first responders injured by an act of terrorism or violence in the workplace that occurred prior to Jan. 1, 2018.
Assemblywoman Reyes represents the state’s 47th District, which includes parts of San Bernardino.