Workers' compensation: professional athletes.

Existing workers' compensation law requires employers to secure the payment of workers' compensation, including medical treatment, for injuries incurred by their employees that arise out of, or in the course of, employment. Existing law provides that an injury may be either "specific," occurring as the result of one incident or exposure that causes disability or need for medical treatment, or "cumulative," occurring as repetitive mentally or physically traumatic activities extending over a period of time, the combined effect of which causes any disability or need for medical treatment. Existing law provides that an employee who has been hired outside of this state and his or her employer are exempt from these provisions while the employee is temporarily within this state doing work for his or her employer if the employer has furnished workers' compensation insurance coverage under the workers' compensation insurance or similar laws of a state other than California, as specified. This bill would exempt an employee hired outside of this state and his or her employer from the occupational disease and cumulative injury provisions of this state's workers' compensation laws if (1) the employee is a professional athlete, defined, for purposes of these provisions, to include an athlete who is employed at the minor or major league level in the sport of baseball, basketball, football, ice hockey, or soccer, (2) that professional athlete is temporarily within this state doing work for his or her employer, and (3) the employer has furnished workers' compensation insurance under the laws of the state other than California that covers the professional athlete's employment while in this state, except as specified. This bill would deem a professional athlete to be temporarily within the state doing work for his or her employer if, during the 365 consecutive days immediately preceding the professional athlete's last day of work for the employer within the state, the professional athlete performs less than 20% of his or her duty days, as defined, in the state. The bill would also exempt a professional athlete and his or her employer from the occupational disease or cumulative injury provisions of this state's workers' compensation laws when all of the professional athlete's employers in his or her last year of work as a professional athlete are exempt from these provisions unless the professional athlete has, over the course of his or her professional athletic career, (1) worked for 2 or more seasons for a California-based team or teams, as defined, or worked 20% or more of his or her duty days in California or for a California-based team, and, (2) worked for fewer than 7 seasons for any team other than a California-based team. The bill would also state that it is the intent of the Legislature that the decision of the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board in Wesley Carroll v. Cincinnati Bengals, et al. (2013) 78 Cal.Comp.Cases ____ (ADJ2295331) (WCAB En Banc) be limited to professional athletes, and would include other specified statements of legislative intent. The bill would provide that these changes apply to all pending claims for benefits filed on or after September 15, 2013, as specified.