Opinion ID: 705181
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Application of the 1992 FEHA Amendments

Text: 60 Jimeno also contends that the 1992 amendments to the FEHA, which became effective for cases pending before the Fair Employment and Housing Commission on or after January 1, 1993, see, e.g., Stats. ch. 913 Sec. 44, 1992 Cal.Adv.Legis.Serv. 3837, 3885 (Deering), eliminate any possibility of workers' compensation exclusivity. Jimeno argues, in effect, that the Legislature's strengthening of the FEHA to incorporate provisions of the American with Disabilities Act of 1990, Pub.L. No. 101-336 (codified as amended in relevant part at 42 U.S.C. Sec. 12101 et seq.), whenever those provisions provide more protection, and the omission of any language explicitly exempting workers with work-related disabilities should be interpreted to mean that the FEHA precludes exclusive application of the workers' compensation provisions. 61 Jimeno cites the Legislative Counsel's Digest for the bill before the California legislature, which indicates that [t]he bill would specify that the act's provisions are not superseded by provisions of other laws relating to workers' compensation and insurance. See Stats. ch. 913, Legislative Counsel's Digest (15), 1992 Cal.Adv.Legis.Serv. 3837, 3850 (Deering) (discussing Assembly Bill 1077). This comment accompanied a proposed new section 12994, 9 which would have eliminated workers' compensation exclusivity, but that provision was never enacted into law because the Senate deleted it in the Senate's June 1, 1992 version of the bill. As a result, the amendments as enacted did not include any new language providing that the FEHA should supersede workers' compensation exclusivity. See Assembly Bill 1077, 1991-92 Legis., Reg.Sess. (as amended in the Senate, June 1, 1992). 62 When, as here, the state high court has not addressed the explicit question at issue, the role of the panel is to determine how that court would rule. Skillsky v. Lucky Stores, Inc., 893 F.2d 1088, 1093 (9th Cir.1990). Although the panel may look for guidance to decisions by intermediate appellate courts, those decisions are not binding if the panel is convinced that the state's supreme court would rule differently. Martinez v. Asarco, Inc., 918 F.2d 1467, 1473 (9th Cir.1990) (disregarding two Arizona appellate decisions). 63 California courts give substantial weight to the deletion of a provision during the drafting stage. The rejection by the Legislature of a specific provision contained in an act as originally introduced is most persuasive to the conclusion that the act should not be construed to include the omitted provision. Rich v. State Board of Optometry, 235 Cal.App.2d 591, 45 Cal.Rptr. 512, 522 (1965); accord, People v. Gangemi, 13 Cal.App.4th 1790, 17 Cal.Rptr.2d 462, 466-67 (1993). 64 The Legislature, in enacting the broad, anti-discriminatory provisions of the FEHA, was aware of the more specific workers' compensation provisions and could have included explicit statements exempting FEHA claims from the exclusivity provisions. Instead, the Legislature declined to enact such a provision as part of the 1992 amendments. Therefore, we hold that the deletion of the provision explicitly eliminating workers' compensation exclusivity makes impossible what was already dubious--the plaintiff's contention that the amendments that were adopted in 1992 had any effect on such exclusivity. Because we find that the 1992 amendments do not eliminate the exclusivity of the workers' compensation remedy, we need not address Jimeno's arguments for retroactive application of the amendments to this case. 65 Therefore, we find that the California workers' compensation provisions provide the exclusive remedy under California law for a work-related physical disability discrimination claim. We must now consider whether Mobil has met its burden to show that a work-related injury was the cause of its decision to terminate Jimeno, thus invoking the exclusive workers' compensation remedies.