Michael Jenkins — ADJ12332497

Michael Jenkins, a professional football player who played for the Dallas Cowboys, Oakland Raiders, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Arizona Cardinals from 2008 to 2017, filed a cumulative trauma claim alleging injury to multiple body parts. The WCJ originally found California subject matter jurisdiction based on applicant's regular employment with the Oakland Raiders for a full season and an alleged California oral contract of hire. Defendant Great Divide Insurance (administered by Berkley Entertainment) sought reconsideration, arguing that Labor Code section 3600.5(d) exempts the claim from California jurisdiction. The Board, applying the intervening Court of Appeal decision in Atlanta Falcons v. WCAB (Gandy), held that sections 3600.5(c) and (d) apply to professional athletes even where they had regular employment in California, and that applicant failed to meet the exceptions in section 3600.5(d)(1)(A)-(B) because he neither worked two seasons for a California-based team nor performed 20 percent of his duty days in California, and he played more than seven seasons for non-California teams. The Board rescinded the Findings of Fact and substituted a finding that section 3600.5 precludes California subject matter jurisdiction.