Monday, February 25, 2013

WHY CALIFORNIA IS GOING BROKE

It’s not only the welfare recipients, state employees, pensions, prisons and schools that are draining California’s coffers. In a February 23 Los Angeles Times story, Marc Lifsher reports that multimillionaire professional athletes have bilked the State of California out of millions of dollars in workers’ compensation benefits.

And now digest this zinger. The vast majority of those athletes played for teams in other states and actually played only a few games in California. No wonder the former Golden State is now the Rusty Iron State.

Here are some excerpts from Lifsher’s report:

In his seven-year career with the Denver Broncos, running back Terrell Davis, a former Super Bowl Most Valuable Player, dazzled fans with his speed and elusiveness.

At the end of his rookie year in 1995, he signed a $6.8-million, five-year contract. Off the field he endorsed Campbell's soup. And when he hung up his cleats, he reported for the National Football League Network and appeared in movies and TV shows.

So it may surprise Californians to find out that in 2011, Davis got a $199,000 injury settlement from a California workers' compensation court for injuries related to football. This came despite the fact Davis was employed by a Colorado team and played just nine times in California during an 88-game career, according to the NFL.

Davis was compensated for the lifelong effects of multiple injuries to the head, arms, trunk, legs and general body, according to California workers' compensation records.

He is not alone.

Over the last three decades, California's workers' compensation system has awarded millions of dollars in benefits for job-related injuries to thousands of professional athletes. The vast majority worked for out-of-state teams; some played as little as one game in the Golden State.

Major retired stars who scored six-figure California workers' compensation benefits include Moses Malone, a three-time NBA most valuable player with the Houston Rockets, Philadelphia 76ers and other teams. He was awarded $155,000. Pro Football Hall of Fame wide receiver Michael Irvin, formerly with the Dallas Cowboys, received $249,000. The benefits usually are calculated as lump-sum payments but sometimes are accompanied by open-ended agreements to provide lifetime medical services.

1 comment:

bob walsh said...

Professional athletes pay California income tax on the perecentage of their earnings they earn from games in California. The state is VERY aggressive about collecting this money. It is therefore (IMHO) perfectly reasonable for the athletes to file for workers comp in California for injuries related to their California activity. A coin has two sides.