Judge: Kevin C. Brazile, Case: BC623542, Date: 2023-01-17 Tentative Ruling

Hearing Date: January 17, 2023

Case Name: Pawlowicz v. Casta Construction, Inc., et al.

Case No.: 20STCV44984

Matter: Motion to Intervene

Moving Party: Employers Compensation Insurance Company

Responding Party: Unopposed

Notice: OK

Ruling: The Motion is granted.

Moving party to give notice.

If counsel do not submit on the tentative, they are strongly 

encouraged to appear by LACourtConnect rather than in person due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

On November 23, 2020, Plaintiff Jamie Pawlowicz filed the operative Complaint for (1) battery, (2) negligent hiring, retention, and supervision, and (3) premises liability.  Plaintiff alleges that his coworkers battered him after a verbal altercation.

Employers Compensation Insurance Company (“ECIC”) is a workers’ compensation carrier that has paid for Plaintiff's injuries.  ECIC seeks to file a complaint-in-intervention against the Defendants herein.

Code Civ. Proc. § 387 provides for instances in which intervention is mandatory and discretionary.  Intervention is mandatory where “[a] provision of law confers an unconditional right to intervene [or] [t]he person seeking intervention claims an interest relating to the property or transaction that is the subject of the action and that person is so situated that the disposition of the action may impair or impede that person’s ability to protect that interest, unless that person’s interest is adequately represented by one or more of the existing parties.”  (Code Civ. Proc. § 387(d)(1).)  Discretionary intervention is allowable when “the nonparty has a direct and immediate interest in the litigation; . . . [t]he intervention will not enlarge the issues in the case; and [t]he reasons for intervention outweigh any opposition by the existing parties.”  (Truck Ins. Exchange v. Superior Court (1997) 60 Cal.App.4th 342, 346.)

“When an employee is injured by a third party's tortious act, an employer is indirectly injured to the extent the employer must pay out workers' compensation benefits. By statute the employer may recoup its damages from the third party through subrogation. [ ] By definition a workers' compensation insurance carrier who has paid benefits has all the rights of an employer. (Lab.Code, § 3850.) [¶] The carrier can recover its damages by (1) suing the third party in its own name (Lab.Code, § 3852), (2) intervening in an action filed by the employee (Lab.Code, § 3853), or (3) filing a lien claim in a suit filed by the employee (Lab.Code, § 3856, subd. (b)). Should the employee and carrier file independent suits, the suits must be consolidated under Labor Code section 3853.”  (San Diego Unified Port Dist. v. Superior Ct. (1988) 197 Cal.App. 3d 843, 846.)

As ECIC is a workers’ compensation carrier that has paid for Plaintiff’s injuries relating to this matter (Bustos Decl. ¶¶ 3-6), it may intervene, particularly as there are no objections.  (Lab. Code § 3853; Cal. Rules of Court, Rule 8.54(c); Sexton v. Superior Court (1997) 58 Cal.App.4th 1403, 1410.) 

In sum, the Motion to Intervene is granted.

Moving party to give notice.

If counsel do not submit on the tentative, they are strongly encouraged to appear by LACourtConnect rather than in person due to the COVID-19 pandemic.