Rogelstad, Jolee

Applicant Jolee Rogelstad responded to a Craigslist ad and entered into a live-in personal assistant/bookkeeping arrangement with defendant Brian Silver, an attorney, in exchange for an hourly wage and housing in an RV trailer he purchased and placed on his property. On her first night living in the trailer (June 21, 2020), she tripped on a stair, was knocked unconscious, and sustained serious injuries requiring multiple surgeries. Defendant, who was uninsured at the time, contended she was an independent contractor, that no employment relationship existed at the date of injury, and that the bunkhouse rule did not apply. The WCJ found an employment relationship existed and that the injury was compensable; defendant sought reconsideration. The Board affirmed the employment finding under Borello and the presumption of Labor Code section 3357 but rescinded the F&A and deferred the issue of injury AOE/COE because there was no medical evidence in the record establishing injury to any body part, and also deferred the judicial-notice issue regarding applicant's prior Washington case.