Injury Caused by Employee Misconduct

Labor Code sections 4551 and 4552 provide for a 50 percent reduction in benefits if a court finds that the employee’s serious and willful misconduct caused the injury, except under the following circumstances:

• The injury resulted in death;
• The injury resulted in permanent disability of 70 percent or more;
• The injury was caused by the employer’s failure to comply with any provision of law or any safety order of Cal/OSHA; or
• The injured employee was less than 16 years old at the time of injury.