“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 ✦
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
A denial letter from a workers' comp insurance carrier is not the end of your case. It is the beginning of a legal process that injured workers in Santa Clarita can win with proper representation. Insurance companies deny claims for film crew members injured on SCV soundstages, Six Flags employees hurt during maintenance operations, and Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital nurses with patient-handling injuries. They do this because denials are profitable. Many injured workers give up after receiving a denial, and every worker who walks away saves the insurer money. A Board-Certified workers' comp attorney knows how to challenge these denials at the Van Nuys WCAB and recover the benefits you are owed.
Insurance carriers deny claims for a limited set of reasons, and understanding these reasons is the first step toward overturning a denial. The most common grounds for denial include disputes over whether the injury is work-related, allegations that the injury was pre-existing, claims that the worker failed to report the injury within the required timeframe, and assertions that the worker was not an employee at the time of injury.
In Santa Clarita's entertainment industry, the "not an employee" denial is particularly common. Production companies sometimes classify set construction workers, day players, and specialty crew members as independent contractors. When one of these workers gets injured, the production company's insurer denies the claim on the basis that the worker was not an employee. Under California's ABC test and Labor Code Section 2750.5, most of these workers are legally employees, and the denial can be challenged.
For Six Flags workers, insurers frequently deny heat-related illness claims by arguing the worker's condition was pre-existing or not caused by work exposure. California Labor Code Section 3600 only requires that employment be a contributing cause of the injury, not the sole cause. A Six Flags ride operator who collapses from heat exhaustion during a 100-degree Valley day has a strong claim regardless of any underlying health conditions.
Healthcare workers at Henry Mayo face denials based on the insurer's assertion that back injuries from patient handling are degenerative rather than industrial. This is an apportionment argument dressed up as a denial, and it can be overcome with proper medical evidence from a physician who understands the biomechanics of nursing work.
When your claim is denied, you have the right to file an Application for Adjudication of Claim with the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board. For Santa Clarita workers, this application is filed at the Van Nuys WCAB office. Filing this application initiates a formal legal proceeding in which you, the applicant, present evidence that your injury is work-related and that you are entitled to benefits.
The core of most denied claim cases is the medical evidence. After filing your application, you are entitled to an evaluation by a Qualified Medical Evaluator (QME) selected through a panel process under Labor Code Section 4062.2. The QME examines you, reviews your medical records, and issues a report addressing the disputed issues, including whether your injury is work-related, the extent of your disability, and the need for future medical treatment. If the QME agrees that your injury is industrial, the denial becomes very difficult for the insurer to sustain.
Your attorney can also challenge the denial through discovery, depositions, and subpoenas of employment records and safety documents. In entertainment industry cases, this might include call sheets showing you were on set at the time of injury, time cards from the payroll company, and safety reports filed after the incident. For healthcare workers, nursing logs, patient assignment records, and incident reports all serve as evidence that the injury occurred at work.
Yazdchi Law approaches denied claims with the assumption that the denial is wrong until the evidence proves otherwise. Attorney Eman Yazdchi reviews the denial letter, identifies the stated basis for the denial, and develops a strategy to disprove each ground.
For entertainment workers whose claims are denied based on employment status, the firm gathers evidence of the employer's control over the worker's schedule, tools, and methods, the factors that determine employee status under California law. Pay stubs, call sheets, crew deal memos, and union records all contribute to proving that the worker was an employee, not an independent contractor.
For workers whose claims are denied based on causation, the firm ensures the QME evaluation is thorough and that the medical record accurately reflects the mechanism of injury. Insurance companies often provide the QME with an incomplete set of records, omitting prior treatment records that would support the industrial causation argument. Yazdchi Law compiles the complete medical history and submits it to the evaluating physician to ensure a fully informed opinion.
The firm handles cases at the Van Nuys WCAB and is located in Palmdale, easily accessible from Santa Clarita via the 14 Freeway.
Injured at work in Santa Clarita? Call (661) 273-1780
Tap to call →Overturning a denied workers' comp claim requires a lawyer who knows the system inside and out. Attorney Eman Yazdchi is Board-Certified in Workers' Compensation by the California State Bar, a credential held by fewer than 1% of attorneys statewide. This certification reflects years of focused practice, peer evaluation, and demonstrated expertise. When an insurance company denies your claim, a Board-Certified specialist has the knowledge and credibility to fight the denial effectively at every stage of the process.
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