Logan v. Masters

Opinion

PARAS, J.

Defendant appeals from money judgments entered in favor of plaintiffs on their complaints for personal injuries. The cases were tried together and we have consolidated them on our own motion.

The underlying facts are not in dispute. Plaintiffs were defendant’s employees in a logging operation in Trinity County; they were injured in separate incidents on the same day and brought separate suits in superior court. Defendant did not maintain workers’ compensation insurance; in such cases an action at law is authorized by Labor Code section 3706.

1

The sole issue on appeal is the trial court’s refusal to instruct the jury on comparative negligence. We agree with and affirm the trial court.

[147]

The focus of arguments on the disputed instruction, both here and in the trial court, is section 3708; in part it provides: “In such [§ 3706] action it is presumed that the injury to the employee was a direct result and grew out of the negligence of the employer, and the burden of the proof is upon the employer, to rebut the presumption of negligence.

It is not a defense to the employer that the employee was guilty of contributory negligence,

or assumed the risk of the hazard complained of, or that the injury was caused by the negligence of a fellow servant. No contract or regulation shall restore to the employer any of the foregoing defenses.” (Italics added.)

Defendant argues that

Li

v.

Yellow Cab

(1975) 13 Cal.3d 804 [119 Cal.Rptr. 858, 532 P.2d 1226, 78 A.L.R.3d 393] rendered the term “contributory negligence” meaningless. He relies on an analogy between worker’s compensation and strict product liability, noting that the courts have found comparative negligence applicable in the latter setting. (See

Daly