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Claxton v. Waters8/30/2004
Ct.App. 2/8 B141129
In executing the standard preprinted form used to settle workers' compensation claims, does an injured worker also release causes of action that are not exclusively subject to the workers' compensation law or are not within the scope of that law? The answer is "no." Those causes of action, however, may be the subject of a separate settlement and release.
I.
From February 1995 until her resignation in September 1997, Carolyn Claxton worked as an office assistant for defendant Pacific Maritime Association (PMA). Claxton's supervisor was Ray Waters.
On December 16, 1997, Claxton filed a claim with the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board (WCAB) against PMA for an injury to her "left lower extremity and psyche" from a slip and fall on May 7, 1997. On January 16, 1998, Claxton filed a second and separate workers' compensation claim against PMA for injury to "psyche due to sexual harassment."
On September 15, 1998, Claxton filed this civil action against PMA and Waters alleging, as relevant here, sexual harassment in violation of the Fair Employment and Housing Act (Gov. Code, § 12900 et seq.). On November 6, 1998, defendants filed their answer to the complaint.
On February 25, 1999, Claxton and PMA settled the workers' compensation claims for $25,000. As part of the settlement, Claxton executed a preprinted compromise and release form (WCAB form 15). The use of this form is mandatory. (Cal. Code Regs., tit. 8, § 10874.) The form had only the case numbers for Claxton's two claims for workers' compensation; it made no reference to the pending civil action against PMA and Waters.
In preprinted paragraph 3, WCAB form 15 states: "Upon approval of this compromise agreement by the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board or a workers' compensation judge and payment in accordance with the provisions hereof, said employee releases and forever discharges said employer and insurance carrier from all claims and causes of action, whether now known or ascertained, or which may hereafter arise or develop as a result of said injury, including any and all liability of said employer and said insurance carrier and each of them to the dependents, heirs, executors, representatives, administrators or assigns of said employee."
On March 16, 1999, a workers' compensation judge approved the compromise and release. The order approving the settlement contained the case numbers for both of Claxton's workers' compensation claims, but not the case number for the civil action.
Thereafter, in the civil lawsuit alleging sexual harassment, defendants PMA and Waters moved in the superior court for leave to file an amended answer adding, among other things, an affirmative defense that the execution of the workers' compensation compromise and release also extinguished Claxton's claims in her civil action against PMA and Waters. The court granted the motion. Claxton then moved for summary adjudication of, among other things, the affirmative defense.
In support of that motion, Claxton submitted declarations by herself and by the attorney who had represented her in the workers' compensation proceedings. Claxton's declaration stated that she thought the workers' compensation release related only to her knee injury "and did not include" her claim for damages in the civil action alleging sexual harassment by her "employer," that the preprinted workers' compensation release form said nothing about the settlement of her civil action alleging sexual harassment, and that she had not authorized her workers' compensation attorney to settle her civil action.
The declaration of Claxton's workers' compensat
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