Wesley Carroll

Wesley Carroll, a professional football player hired outside California, was found by the WCJ to have sustained a cumulative industrial injury (46% PD) while playing for the New Orleans Saints (1991-1993) and Cincinnati Bengals (1993-1994). The Bengals petitioned for reconsideration of the WCJ's finding that they were not exempt from California workers' compensation law under Labor Code section 3600.5(b). Carroll played only one game in California (in San Francisco on December 5, 1993) while employed by the Bengals, who were permissibly self-insured under Ohio law. The Appeals Board, sitting en banc, held that the Bengals and Carroll were exempt from California's workers' compensation law because all four conditions of section 3600.5(b) were satisfied: Carroll was hired outside California, was only temporarily in the state, the Bengals furnished Ohio workers' compensation coverage covering that work, and Ohio recognizes California's extraterritorial provisions and reciprocally exempts California employers. The WCJ's decision was rescinded, the Bengals were dismissed as a defendant, and the case was returned to the trial level. Commissioner Sweeney dissented, arguing the statute should be read in harmony with sections 3600.5(a) and 5500.5 and that Carroll was 'regularly employed' in California.