“I am glad and so very pleased...she made happen what no other attorney could do. So far she has proven her weight in gold.”
Jamal Sharples
Palmdale
✦ Board-Certified Specialist in Workers’ Compensation Law — State Bar of California ✦
Board-certified specialist fighting for maximum benefits for injured workers.
By Eman Yazdchi, Esq. · Certified Specialist in Workers' Compensation Law
Mojave sits at the junction of Highway 58 and the 14 Freeway — a crossroads for three of California's most hazardous industries. At the Mojave Air and Space Port, an FAA-licensed spaceport on Airport Boulevard, companies like Virgin Galactic, Scaled Composites, and The Spaceship Company conduct experimental rocket testing and advanced aircraft development. South along the 14 Freeway, the BNSF Railway yard runs around-the-clock switching, maintenance, and crew operations that keep freight moving across the western United States. And just 20 miles east on Highway 58, the Rio Tinto Borax mine in Boron and the Golden Queen Mining operation extract minerals using heavy equipment in punishing desert conditions. This concentration of high-risk work in a community of roughly 4,000 people produces a workplace injury rate far above the state average.
Despite this industrial intensity, Mojave has virtually no local legal representation for injured workers. Claims are filed through the Bakersfield WCAB district office in Kern County, and most attorneys are based an hour or more away. Insurance carriers exploit that isolation every day — delaying treatment authorizations, lowballing settlements, and hoping workers in this remote desert community will accept whatever is offered. Attorney Eman Yazdchi, a board-certified specialist in workers' compensation law, serves Mojave workers directly and handles all appearances at the Bakersfield WCAB.
Whether you test rocket engines at the Space Port, maintain rail cars at the BNSF yard, operate heavy equipment at the Boron mine, or drive trucks along the Highway 58 corridor, California Labor Code sections 3200 through 6002 guarantee your right to full medical care, wage replacement, and permanent disability compensation. One critical note: railroad workers employed by BNSF may have claims under the Federal Employers Liability Act (FELA) instead of or in addition to state workers' comp — a distinction that significantly affects your legal strategy and potential recovery.
California's workers' compensation system under Labor Code sections 3200 through 6002 is a no-fault insurance program. You do not need to prove your employer was negligent — only that your injury arose out of and in the course of employment. Every Mojave employer, from the 30-plus aerospace companies at the Air and Space Port to local trucking operations on Highway 58, must carry workers' comp coverage.
If you work for BNSF Railway at the Mojave rail yard, you are likely covered by the Federal Employers Liability Act rather than California workers' comp. FELA is a fault-based system — you must prove the railroad's negligence caused your injury — but it allows recovery for full damages including pain and suffering, which workers' comp does not provide. FELA claims can produce significantly larger recoveries than workers' comp for the same injury. Understanding whether your claim falls under state workers' comp or federal FELA is the first question any Mojave railroad worker must answer.
For the non-railroad workforce in Mojave — aerospace technicians, miners, construction workers, truckers, and wind farm operators — the standard California workers' comp system applies. Your claim will be filed and litigated at the Bakersfield WCAB district office in Kern County, where we handle all hearings, mandatory settlement conferences, and trials on your behalf.
Injured at work in Mojave? Call (661) 273-1780
Tap to call →Mojave is in Kern County, so all workers' comp hearings are conducted at the Bakersfield WCAB district office. All mandatory settlement conferences, trials, and discovery disputes are handled there. We appear at the Bakersfield WCAB regularly on behalf of Mojave workers.
Mojave has very limited local medical. AV Hospital in Lancaster is approximately 30 minutes south on the 14 Freeway. Ridgecrest Regional Hospital is roughly one hour northeast. Kern County emergency and ambulance services provide initial response for serious workplace injuries.
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