Rinaldi

The Director of the Department of Industrial Relations (Director), as Administrator of the Uninsured Employers’ Fund (UEF), seeks review of a decision by the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board (Board) subjecting the UEF to liability for injuries which applicant Abdias Albiter sustained while working on an almond ranch owned by defendant Lars Johnson. The Board found that applicant’s sole employer for workers’ compensation purposes was Domingo Trujillo, who agreed with Johnson to harvest and prune Johnson’s almond trees. Since Trujillo did not carry workers’ compensation insurance, this finding meant that any benefits due to applicant would have to be absorbed by the UEF. (See Lab. Code, § 3716.)

The Director challenges the finding and order exonerating Johnson from workers’ compensation liability. We have concluded that under S. G. Borello & Sons, Inc. v. Department of Industrial Relations (1989) 48 Cal.3d 341 [ 256 Cal.Rptr. 543 , 769 P.2d 399 ] (hereinafter cited as Borello), Johnson was, as a matter of law, applicant’s employer for workers’ compensation purposes.

I. Background

Johnson owned a 40-acre almond ranch in Turlock. He employed a permanent part-time worker…