Martin
Martin v. Workers' Compensation Appeals Board
Opinion
Opinion
Woods, J.
This court granted this petition to review a decision of respondent Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board (WCAB) issued after this court’s prior “order and alternative writ of mandate.” The WCAB found that employee statements elicited during the investigation of petitioner Gregory Martin’s workers’ compensation claims were protected from discovery by the attorney-client privilege. We annul and remand.
Factual and Procedural Synopsis
Martin filed workers’ compensation claims alleging continuous trauma to his psyche, multiple sclerosis and other orthopedic parts of his body as a result of stress and strain while employed at real party in interest Hughes Aircraft Company (Hughes).
On July 12, 1993, real party in interest Helmsman Management Services (Helmsman), Hughes’s claims administrator, denied Martin’s claims based on the medical report of Dr. Theodore Blatt and an investigation at Hughes requested by its counsél and performed by an outside agency, Zwein-Hines Adjusters.
On September 20, 1994, Martin requested that Hughes provide a copy of the investigation referred to in the denial letter. Hughes responded by alleging that the requested information did not have to be…