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Calatayud v. State8/6/1998
bility; and firemen should not be deterred from any action they may desire to take in combatting fires by a fear that liability might be imposed if a jury believes such action to be unreasonable." (4 Cal. Law Revision Com. Rep. (Jan. 1963) p. 862; see Heimberger v. City of Fairfield (1975) 44 Cal.App.3d 711, 714-716.)
As previously discussed, the cost-spreading rationale is one of the critical public policy reasons underlying the firefighter's rule. (Walters, supra, 20 Cal.3d at pp. 204, 205-206.) In Neighbarger, supra, 8 Cal.4th at page 543, we explained that "to permit firefighters to bring actions for injury caused by responding to a fire would involve the parties in costly litigation over rights of subrogation without substantially benefiting the firefighter, who is compensated either by the retirement system or the worker's compensation system. [Citation.] he public will pay the bill, whether the firefighter is compensated by public benefits derived from taxation, or from insurance proceeds that must be purchased. [Citation.]" Applying the firefighter's rule thus "relieve various public agencies of the burden of lawsuits over rights of subrogation that are pointless because the public fisc ultimately pays regardless of the outcome . . . ." (Ibid.) It is highly unlikely the Legislature intended to encourage costly litigation, including the possibility of derivative actions, when the public has already financed statutory compensation of injured public safety members. (See Comment, supra, 71 Cal. L.Rev. at p. 246, fn. 104.)
Legislative history bears out this assessment. As to both Labor Code section 3852, subdivision (b), and Civil Code section 1714.9, the analyses consistently noted no anticipated increase in state costs, including a report by the Assembly Finance, Insurance, and Commerce Committee. (Assem. Com. on Finance, Insurance, & Commerce, Analysis of Assem. Bill No. 2105, supra; Legis. Counsel's Dig., Assem. Bill No. 2105, 6 Stats. 1982 (Reg. Sess.) Summary Dig., p. 61; Sen. Democratic Caucus, Analysis of Assem. Bill No. 2105, supra; Legis. Counsel's Dig., Assem. Bill No. 2351, 6 Stats. 1982 (Reg. Sess.) Summary Dig., p. 97; Sen. Democratic Caucus, Analysis of Assem. Bill No. 2351, supra.) The bill also received support from numerous statewide police and firefighter organizations as well as the City and County of San Francisco, the City of Los Angeles, the County of Los Angeles, and the Attorney General, none of which raised any concern about potential liability. On the contrary, since the Legislature expressly allowed for employer subrogation (Civ. Code, ยง 1714.9, subd. (c)), employers expected to recover some portion of their payments to injured officers through suits in intervention against civilian third party tortfeasors. (See Cal. Highway Patrol Enrolled Bill Rep., Assem. Bill No. 2351 (1981-1982 Reg. Sess) June 2, 1982.) As this case illustrates, enlarging the scope of section 1714.9(a)(1) to include jointly engaged fellow officers would more than offset those expectations. Whatever disability benefits the City of Pasadena may have recouped, the state has lost considerably more in litigation costs, derivative action judgments, and attorney fees. In the final analysis, whether the injured officer is compensated through less expensive disability benefits or more expensive litigation, the payment comes from one or another of the taxpayers' pockets. When the injured officer is adequately recompensed through legislatively enhanced disability and other benefits, statutory interpretation that increases the cost of discharging public safety obligations seems intuitively contrary to any reasonable legislative intent.
In addition to the adverse effect on the fisc, extendin
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