No Loss Of Consortium Claim Under Labor Code §4558.

Where an employee is injured in the course and scope of his or her employment, workers’ compensation is generally the exclusive remedy of the employee and his or her dependents against the employer. (Labor Code §§ 3600(a), 3602).  Labor Code §4558 authorizes an injured worker to bring a civil action for tort damages against his or her employer where the injuries were “proximately caused by the employer’s knowing removal of, or knowing failure to install, a point of operation guard on a power press,” where the “manufacturer [had] designed, installed, required or otherwise provided by specification for the attachment of the guards and conveyed knowledge of the same to the employer.” About whether or not §4558 permits an injured worker’s spouse to bring suit for loss of consortium, the California Supreme Court said “under settled principles of workers’ compensation law, the exclusivity rule bars a dependent spouse’s claim for loss of consortium. The employer’s demurrer to the loss of consortium cause of action below therefore should have been sustained.” LeFiell Manufacturing Co. v. Sup. Ct. (O’Neil Watrous) (Cal. Sup. Ct.; August 20, 2012) 55 Cal.4th 275.