Judge: Eddie C. Sturgeon, Case: 37-2022-00039482-CU-PO-CTL, Date: 2023-09-08 Tentative Ruling

SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA,

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HALL OF JUSTICE

TENTATIVE RULINGS - September 07, 2023

09/08/2023  09:00:00 AM  C-67 COUNTY OF SAN DIEGO

JUDICIAL OFFICER:Eddie C Sturgeon

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Civil - Unlimited  PI/PD/WD - Other Demurrer / Motion to Strike 37-2022-00039482-CU-PO-CTL LOZANO VS LARRYS PAINTING [IMAGED] CAUSAL DOCUMENT/DATE FILED: Demurrer, 01/27/2023

This matter is ordered STAYED until the Worker's Compensation Appeals Board ('WCAB') proceeding becomes final. All requests for judicial notice are granted. (ROAs 22, 49, 52.) Once the WCAB proceeding is final, the parties are instructed to return to this court ex parte with positions on whether the action should continue and, if so, to calendar a hearing on these motions and to determine whether any supplemental briefing is necessary.

The WCAB proceeding designated case number ADJ13931318 is based on the same incident alleged in the complaint and involves the same parties. (See generally ROA 52.) The Workers' Compensation Act ('WCA') provides the sole and exclusive remedy for workplace injuries and the WCAB has exclusive jurisdiction over worker's compensation claims. (Labor Code, §§ 3600(a), 3601, 3602(a), 5300.) 'The only point of concurrent jurisdiction of the two tribunals is jurisdiction to determine jurisdiction; jurisdiction once determined is exclusive, not concurrent.' (La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club, Inc. v. Industrial Indemnity Co. (1994) 9 Cal.4th 27, 35.) '[W]hichever tribunal exercised jurisdiction first should make the necessary findings[.]' (Hollingsworth v. Superior Court (2019) 37 Cal.App.5th 927, 933 [citing Scott v. Industrial Acc. Commission (1956) 46 Cal.2d 76, 81].) Notably, these '[g]eneral principles [are] applicable to controversies in which the same parties and the same subject matter are involved[.]' (Scott, supra, 46 Cal.2d at 81.) Plaintiffs contend that this action is outside the scope of workers' compensation and that they are entitled to bring tort claims even if Plaintiff Lozano is not Defendant Meyer's employee for the purpose of workers' compensation under Labor Code section 3352(a)(8). (See Heiman v. Workers' Comp. Appeals Bd. (2007) 149 Cal.App.4th 724, 725.) While that may be true, it appears undisputed that the same parties are proceeding before the WCAB with respect to the very same incident alleged here. (See ROA 52, Ex. B.) The WCAB action was first in time and a hearing is set for October 17, 2023. (Id., Ex. D.) Accordingly, the court declines to move forward with merits consideration until such a time that the WCAB has come to a final adjudication.

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