For the last 25 years, California law has treated Corrections Officers differently than local safety officers when it comes to an in-the-line-of-duty death. Only local agency spouses and dependents could collect both Workers’ Compensation Death Benefit as well as the CalPERS Special Death Benefit. However, spouses and dependents of Corrections Officers were barred from collecting Workers’ Compensation death benefits, depriving families of up to $320,000. Until now. Ferrone Law Group mounted an unrelenting campaign to change this status quo, and after ten years of lobbying and fighting Ferrone Law Group effected the change.

Under existing law, both the Labor Code and the Public Employees Retirement Law allow for the payment of death benefits to the dependents of employees who have died of a job-related illness or injury. However, Labor Code 4707 prohibited the payment of work comp death benefits, beyond a mere $1,000 for funeral expenses, for any surviving spouse or child under 18 who elected to collect the Special Death Benefit through CalPERS. However, subdivision (b) of that section creates an exemption for firefighters and law enforcement officers employed by local agencies as well as CHP patrol members, allowing the survivors of those members to obtain a dual recovery from BOTH the workers’ compensation system and CalPERS. 

The impact of this duality cannot be understated.  When a Corrections Officer falls in the line of duty, it leaves a hole that cannot be repaired. Beyond losing a coworker, the greatest loss is to the family that officer supported, many of whom relied upon them to be the sole or majority wage earner. Those families not only face the sudden loss of their loved one, but they must now also cope with that bereavement alongside the sudden and often devastating impacts of the loss of income.

Ferrone Law Group drafted and lobbied for a change to this disproportionate treatment, which led to the creation of AB 621.  The Governor has now signed into law Ferrone Law Group’s change to extend the exemption already granted for local public safety members and CHP Officers to now include CDCR Correctional Officers.  As a result, Correctional Officer’s families now get to collect both benefits. The new law went into effect on January 1, 2024, and allows families to claim work comp benefits dating back to 2019 for claims that have not been resolved.  While money can never replace the loss of a loved one, it will now help ease the financial burden of the families of correctional officers with up to an additional $320,000.

Recognizing the fight had to be taken out of the courtroom and into the Legislature, Ferrone Law Group has shown yet again how we continue to strive to improve the lives of correctional officers and their families.