Professional athletes, even those who played as little as one game in California because they played for out-of-state teams like the Dallas Cowboys and the Denver Broncos, have used California’s workers’ compensation system to get six-figure payouts in addition to lifetime medical services.
The Los Angeles Times reports California’s workers’ compensation system has paid “an estimated $747 million to about 4,500 players since the early 1980s.”
Some of these players include:
- NBA star Moses Malone, who was awarded $155,000;
- Dallas Cowboys great and wide receiver Michael Irvin, who was awarded $249,000;
- and Denver Broncos running back Terrell Davis, who received $199,000.
The athletes are taking advantage “of a provision in state law that provides payments for the cumulative effect of injuries over years of playing.”
Taxpayers are not on the hook for these payments since workers’ compensation is an employer-funded program, but these types of payouts show why California’s businesses, debilitated by out-of-control regulations, are fleeing the state to better economic climates.