Section 3717 Of Article 2. Uninsured Employers Fund From California Labor Code >> Division 4. >> Part 1. >> Chapter 4. >> Article 2.
3717
. (a) A findings and award that is the subject of a demand on
the Uninsured Employers Fund or an approved compromise and release or
stipulated findings and award entered into by the director pursuant
to subdivision (e) of Section 3715, or a decision and order of the
rehabilitation unit of the Division of Workers' Compensation, that
has become final, shall constitute a liquidated claim for damages
against an employer in the amount so ascertained and fixed by the
appeals board, and the appeals board shall certify the same to the
director who may institute a civil action against the employer in the
name of the director, as administrator of the Uninsured Employers
Fund, for the collection of the award, or may obtain a judgment
against the employer pursuant to Section 5806. In the event that the
appeals board finds that a corporation is the employer of an injured
employee, and that the corporation has not secured the payment of
compensation as required by this chapter, the following persons shall
be jointly and severally liable with the corporation to the director
in the action:
(1) All persons who are a parent, as defined in Section 175 of the
Corporations Code, of the corporation.
(2) All persons who are substantial shareholders, as defined in
subdivision (b), of the corporation or its parent. In the action it
shall be sufficient for plaintiff to set forth a copy of the findings
and award of the appeals board relative to the claims as certified
by the appeals board to the director and to state that there is due
to plaintiff on account of the finding and award of the appeals board
a specified sum which plaintiff claims with interest. The director
shall be further entitled to costs and reasonable attorney fees, and
to his or her investigation and litigation expenses for the appeals
board proceedings, and a reasonable attorney fee for litigating the
appeals board proceedings. A certified copy of the findings and award
in the claim shall be attached to the complaint. The contents of the
findings and award shall be deemed proved. The answer or demurrer to
the complaint shall be filed within 10 days, the reply or demurrer
to the answer within 20 days, and the demurrer to the reply within 30
days after the return day of the summons or service by publication.
All motions and demurrers shall be submitted to the court within 10
days after they are filed. At the time the civil action filed
pursuant to this section is at issue, it shall be placed at the head
of the trial docket and shall be first in order for trial.
Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to preclude informal
adjustment by the director of a claim for compensation benefits
before the issuance of findings and award wherever it appears to the
director that the employer is uninsured and that informal adjustment
will facilitate the expeditious delivery of compensation benefits to
the injured employee.
(b) As used in this section, "substantial shareholder" means a
shareholder who owns at least 15 percent of the total value of all
classes of stock, or, if no stock has been issued, who owns at least
15 percent of the beneficial interests in the corporation.
(c) For purposes of this section, in determining the ownership of
stock or beneficial interest in the corporation, in the determination
of whether a person is a substantial shareholder of the corporation,
the rules of attribution of ownership of Section 17384 of the
Revenue and Taxation Code shall be applied.
(d) For purposes of this section, "corporation" shall not include:
(1) Any corporation which is the issuer of any security which is
exempted by Section 25101 of the Corporations Code from Section 25130
of the Corporations Code.
(2) Any corporation which is the issuer of any security exempted
by subdivision (c), (d), or (i) of Section 25100 of the Corporations
Code from Sections 25110, 25120, and 25130 of the Corporations Code.
(3) Any corporation which is the issuer of any security which has
qualified either by coordination, as provided by Section 25111 of the
Corporations Code, or by notification, as provided by Section 25112
of the Corporations Code.