Thompson, Derryl

Applicant Derryl Thompson, a resident of a Victory Outreach Chino drug rehabilitation home, was injured on February 17, 2017 while working at a Mecum classic car auction at the Pomona Fairgrounds. The WCJ found that Victory was the general employer, Mission Acts Ministries was an employer/staffing agency, and Mecum was the special employer, rejecting the defendants' argument that applicant was an excluded volunteer under Labor Code sections 3352(a)(2) and 3352(a)(9). Both Zurich (for Mecum) and Church Mutual (for Victory) sought reconsideration. The Board denied both petitions, admonishing both defense counsel for failing to support evidentiary statements with record citations in violation of WCAB Rule 10945 and for citing a nonexistent case. The Board held that applicant was an employee, not a volunteer, because his services were rendered in exchange for a benefit (residence, rehabilitation program, and monetary compensation paid to Victory) and were not purely charitable, and that the for-profit special employer Mecum could not claim the nonprofit exclusions.