Espinoza v. WCAB
On January 17, 2012, the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board (WCAB) found that petitioner Stewart Espinoza, while an inmate of the Los Angeles County Men's Central Jail, was not an employee of the County of Los Angeles (County) at the time that he was injured while working as a cook in the jail, and that he was therefore not eligible for workers' compensation benefits. Espinoza filed a petition for review which we denied on May 17, 2012. The Supreme Court granted Espinoza's petition for review on August 29, 2012 and transferred the matter to this court with directions to vacate the order denying the petition for a writ of review. We issued a writ of review on September 20, 2012 pursuant to the Supreme Court's direction.
Having afforded the parties an opportunity to file briefs, and following oral argument, we conclude once again that the WCAB's decision should stand.
Whether Espinoza was County's employee depends in this case on whether he performed the work he was doing voluntarily or whether he was required to work as a condition of his incarceration. So formulated, the issue at hand is primarily a problem of proof. The solution to this problem was the enactment in 1970 by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors of an order, referred to hereafter as Order #91, which provides that persons confined in the county jail may be compelled to perform labor under the direction of a county official. Order #91 goes on to state that "[n]o prisoner engaged in labor pursuant to this order shall be considered as an employee of, or to be employed by the County or any department thereof, nor shall any such prisoner come within any of the provisions of the Workmen's Compensation Insurance and Safety Act of 1917 . . . ."
For the reasons set forth below, we conclude that Order #91 is proof of the fact that Espinoza was not performing work voluntarily but rather that, under Order #91, he was required to work as a condition of his incarceration.
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