Kaiser Foundation Hospitals v. Workers' Compensation Appeals Board

Petitioners Kaiser Foundation Hospitals and Southern California Permanente Medical Group (Kaiser) contend that the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board (WCAB) erred in equitably charging against its lien for medical services provided to an injured worker (see Lab. Code, §§ 4600 and 4903) a specific portion of the injured worker’s attorneys fee where the amount of Kaiser’s lien had not been ordered paid but only left to be adjusted thereafter by Kaiser and the respondent employer.

*515 I

We are here involved with the claim by the dependent spouse of a worker for workers’ compensation death benefits and benefits accrued prior to the worker’s death. (See Lab. Code, § 4700 et seq.)

The worker’s employer, respondent City of Los Angeles (City), at all times disputed that any industrial injury or industrially related death had occurred. The spouse’s claim was fully and extensively litigated by the dependent spouse to an ultimately successful conclusion.

Kaiser provided medical care to the worker prior to his death and filed a lien in the amount of $13,631.05 in the proceedings. Other than filing a lien, Kaiser did not participate in the actual litigation of dependent…