Kim E. Card

Card won a major case for the state Department of Industrial Relations defending her agency’s authority to oversee workers’ compensation claims in California.

The case was a putative class action brought by women who claimed the agency discriminated against female workers on a wholesale basis. The plaintiffs contended that 11,000 permanently disabled women experienced sexism in the way their cases were handled. Page et al. v. Acting Administrative Director of the Division of Workers’ Compensation et al., BC625992 (L.A. Super. Ct., filed July 6, 2016).

They alleged that women are routinely given less compensation than men for experiencing carpal tunnel syndrome on the job because the American Medical Association Guide indicates that the condition is typical among older women.

The lawsuit also alleged that multiple women who got breast cancer were told they couldn’t get workers’ compensation because the condition didn’t affect their ability to do their jobs.

Card faced off against five plaintiffs’ attorneys at oral arguments and she won.

Card successfully argued that Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Carolyn B. Kuhl had no jurisdiction to challenge the agency’s oversight, because the department’s decisions can be appealed to the Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board or petitioned to the California appellate courts.

She added that the department has been working with Equal Rights Advocates and Public Counsel to determine whether there are systemic problems with workers’ compensation and to find remedies to any issues.

Card said she won on the jurisdictional issues, but felt confident that she could defeat the claims on their merits as well if necessary. She will be handling the appeal that is pending in the 2nd District Court of Appeal.

“The department feels strongly that the system does not discriminate against women,” she said. “We also argued in the case and believe strongly that the allegations in the complaint lacked factual support and failed to state any viable cause of action.”

— Joshua Sebold