Dept. of Corrections & Rehabilitation v. Workers' Comp. Appeals Bd.

Opinion of the Court by Kruger, J.

California’s workers’ compensation law guarantees a certain level of recovery for employees who are injured on the job, regardless of whether the employer was at fault. (Lab. Code, § 3200 et seq.; Shoemaker v. Myers (1990) 52 Cal.3d 1, 16.) If, however, the employee was injured because of the employer’s serious and willful misconduct, the employee is entitled to a 50 percent increase in the “amount of compensation otherwise recoverable.” (Lab. Code, § 4553.) The term “ ‘[c]ompensation’ ” is defined specifically to mean “compensation under” the workers’ compensation law. (Id., § 3207.) The question in this case is whether, for purposes of calculating the 50 percent premium under Labor Code section 4553, “compensation otherwise recoverable” includes industrial disability leave payments, a benefit that the Government Code makes available to certain public employees in lieu of workers’ compensation disability payments. The Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board answered yes to this question. The Court of Appeal, however, disagreed, explaining that the board’s conclusion is plainly inconsistent with the statutory definition of “ ‘compensation’ ” as…