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Briana Norman
✦ Board-Certified Specialist in Workers’ Compensation Law — State Bar of California ✦
A denial is not the end. It’s the beginning of our fight for your benefits.
By Eman Yazdchi, Esq. · Certified Specialist in Workers' Compensation Law
Having your workers' compensation claim denied is frustrating under any circumstances. In Burbank, where many workers depend on high daily rates that vanish the moment they cannot work, a denial can trigger a financial emergency within weeks. Entertainment professionals who lose a production because of an injury — and then have their workers' comp claim denied on top of it — face the double blow of no paycheck and no benefits.
The reality is that claim denials in Burbank are common, and many of them are overturned when challenged by an experienced attorney. Insurance companies deny claims strategically, counting on injured workers to accept the denial and go away. Attorney Eman Yazdchi of Yazdchi Law P.C. is a board-certified workers' compensation specialist who fights denied claims for Burbank workers at the Van Nuys WCAB.
Certain denial patterns are especially prevalent among Burbank workers:
This is the most distinctive Burbank denial. The entertainment industry uses a web of production companies, payroll services, personal service corporations (loan-outs), and staffing agencies. Insurers exploit this complexity by arguing the injured worker was an independent contractor, not an employee covered by workers' comp.
Under California's ABC test codified by AB 5, a worker is an employee unless the hiring entity proves all three prongs: (A) the worker is free from control and direction, (B) the work is outside the usual course of the hiring entity's business, and (C) the worker is customarily engaged in an independently established trade. Most entertainment workers in Burbank — grips, set decorators, camera assistants, production coordinators — fail at least one prong, making them employees entitled to benefits.
Insurers deny claims by arguing the condition is pre-existing, degenerative, or caused by non-work activities. This is particularly common with cumulative trauma claims from Burbank manufacturing workers who develop repetitive stress injuries over years, or entertainment workers who sustain gradual hearing loss from loud soundstage environments. California law does not require work to be the sole cause — if work is a contributing factor, the injury is compensable.
Some Burbank employers — particularly smaller production companies and industrial operations — fail to provide the DWC-1 claim form promptly or actively discourage workers from reporting injuries. The insurer then denies based on late filing. But when the employer's own conduct caused the delay, that defense often fails.
Overturning a denial requires a structured legal approach:
Step 1: Understand the specific denial basis. The insurer must state why they are denying your claim. Each basis requires a different legal and evidentiary response.
Step 2: Gather supporting evidence. This may include medical records, witness statements, employment records proving employee status, workplace exposure documentation, and expert medical opinions.
Step 3: Request a QME evaluation. A Qualified Medical Evaluator provides an independent medical opinion on causation and disability. Your attorney participates in the selection process and can challenge unfavorable findings.
Step 4: File a Declaration of Readiness at the Van Nuys WCAB. This moves your case toward a hearing before a judge.
Step 5: Litigate. Your attorney presents medical evidence, examines witnesses, and argues the law at trial.
The lighting technician at a Burbank studio files a claim for a shoulder injury sustained while rigging a lighting grid. The insurer denies, stating he was employed through a loan-out corporation and is therefore not an employee. Analysis of the actual working arrangement — he was directed by the gaffer, used the production's equipment, and worked exclusively on their schedule — demonstrates employee status under the ABC test. The denial is overturned.
The assembly line worker at a San Fernando Boulevard manufacturer develops bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome after five years of repetitive assembly work. The insurer denies the claim, citing a prior wrist fracture from a childhood injury. The pre-existing fracture does not defeat the claim — California law covers injuries that aggravate prior conditions. Medical evidence from a QME confirming work as a contributing factor leads to claim approval.
The airport ground crew member at Hollywood Burbank Airport injures his back loading luggage and reports it two days later. The insurer denies based on "late reporting" and surveillance video that allegedly shows him lifting normally after the incident. Deposing the adjuster and challenging the surveillance interpretation overturns the denial.
Injured at work in Burbank? Call (661) 273-1780
Tap to call →Insurance companies deny Burbank workers' comp claims because it saves them money when workers give up. Do not give up. A significant percentage of denied claims are overturned when fought by a qualified attorney.
Contact Yazdchi Law P.C. for a free consultation. Attorney Eman Yazdchi will review your denial, explain the path forward, and fight to get your Burbank workers' comp claim approved.
Ready to discuss your case? Schedule a free consultation.
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