Efrain Garcia (Mf) et al. — ADJ10011064

Thirteen inmates of the Fresno County Jail were injured, one fatally, in an April 17, 2015 explosion at a sheriff's department gun range where they were working to collect spent lead and shell casings. The WCJ found the inmates were employees of the County of Fresno, and applicants (who sought benefits but argued they were NOT employees because they did not volunteer and received no compensation) petitioned for reconsideration. The dispute centered on whether county inmate workers—who, unlike state inmates and county fire-suppression workers, are not statutorily defined as employees—qualified as employees under the case-by-case 'compulsory test' set forth in Rowland v. County of Sonoma. Applying a liberal construction of workers' compensation law, the WCAB affirmed that the inmates were County employees, finding their work was voluntary (no county ordinance compelled it) and that the extra visitation rights they received as facility/blue-unit workers constituted sufficient consideration. The Petitions for Reconsideration were affirmed/denied.