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Victor Valley Transit Authority v. Workers' Compensation Appeals Board9/26/2000
As modified October 11, 2000. There is no change in judgment.
VICTOR VALLEY TRANSIT AUTHORITY, PETITIONER,
v.
WORKERS' COMPENSATION APPEALS BOARD AND JAMES SOPHY, RESPONDENTS. COUNTY OF SAN BERNARDINO, PETITIONER,
v.
WORKERS' COMPENSATION APPEALS BOARD AND JAMES SOPHY, RESPONDENTS.
(W.C.A.B. No. SBR267509)
Hallett & McCormick and Bruce S. Emerick for Petitioner Victor Valley Transit Authority. Alan K. Marks, County Counsel, and Melissa A. Ladenson, Deputy County Counsel, for Petitioner County of San Bernardino. Callas & Heise and James C. Callas for Petitioner City of Hesperia. Louis Harris for Respondent State Compensation Insurance Fund, City of Adelanto and Town of Apple Valley. No appearance for Respondent James Sophy. No appearance for Respondent City of Victorville.
The opinion of the court was delivered by: Hollenhorst Acting P. J.
CERTIFIED FOR PUBLICATION
OPINION
ORIGINAL PROCEEDINGS; petition for writ of review. Order annulled.
In this matter we are called upon to determine the propriety of the decision by the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board (Board) to exercise jurisdiction over a disagreement concerning contribution rights and obligations among five members of a public joint powers agency where the injured worker was employed by the agency. We hold that the Board has no such jurisdiction.
FACTS OF THE CASE
Victor Valley Transit Authority ("VVTA") is a joint powers agency created pursuant to Government Code section 6500 et seq. The members of VVTA are the County of San Bernardino and the Cities of Victorville, Adelanto, Hesperia, and Apple Valley. The purpose of VVTA, which was formed in 1989, was to serve as a central organizing instrument for public transit services in the High Desert area.
The joint powers agreement signed by the parties expressly confers upon VVTA the power to make contracts in its own name, a power which is also recognized by statute. (Gov. Code, § 6508.) The parties to the joint powers agreement expressly declined individual liability for the VVTA's acts, including the payment of wages or workers' compensation benefits.
VVTA eventually entered into an employment contract with James Sophy (Sophy) under which Sophy was to serve as VVTA's transit manager. Sophy eventually filed a claim for workers' compensation benefits. The Board found that he had suffered disability arising from his employment, and was entitled to certain benefits.
The original opinion on decision of the workers' compensation judge found the employment status of Sophy vis-à-vis VVTA's member agencies (or at least some of them) to be murky, but ruled that he was at least an employee of VVTA. As Sophy had been carried on the payroll of the City of Adelanto, it was also ruled that Adelanto's workers' compensation carrier, State Compensation Insurance Fund (SCIF), would be "designated to provide benefits in the interim without prejudice to their right to seek contribution."
After lengthy further proceedings, Adelanto and SCIF filed a "Petition for Contribution and Change of Benefits Administrator" in which they asserted that the evidence had shown that employees of the City of Victorville had provided all the stress which led to Sophy's disability, and that Victorville should accordingly take over primary responsibility.
This petition led eventually to the rulings challenged here. The most significant ruling was that the Board, through the workers' compensation judge, had jur
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