In a recent earnings call with analysts, the insurer, Employers Holdings, highlighted the impact these claims have. This came a month after the Workers' Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau noted in its recent rate filing the oversized impact of CT claims on overall workers' comp claims. A notable portion of CT claims are filed after termination and are often attorney-represented, which can contribute to increased litigation and overall claim complexity.
The typical claims allege gradual injuries sustained over years of repetitive motions, exposure or strain, rather than from a single accident or incident. While the sports, leisure and entertainment sectors are also seeing more of these claims, they’re most common in industries involving repetitive motion, heavy lifting or prolonged exposure to harmful conditions.
California has one of the broadest frameworks for cumulative trauma claims, including in certain post-termination scenarios.
The Rating Bureau estimates that 26.4% of all workers' comp claims filed in the state in 2025 are for cumulative trauma injuries, compared to 15% in 2021.
CT claims often have similar characteristics:
- They are more likely to involve multiple injured body parts,
- Long delays between the time of injury and when the claim is filed, and
- Involvement of an applicant’s attorney hired by the claimant.
The Rating Bureau report found that:
- 40% of CT claims in California are filed after a worker is terminated.
- 98% of CT claims are litigated.
- Fully denied CT claims still end up costing over $10,000 on average, and many remain open even after five years.
The main injuries that workers claim when alleging CT:
- Soft tissue disorders 25%
- Dislocation and sprain 20%
- Carpal Tunnel Syndrome 13%
- Multiple injuries, including CTS 13%
- Mental & behavioral disorders 9%
The Rating Bureau found in a 2025 report that post-termination CT claims were initially less costly, but the longer they stay open, the more quickly costs accelerate.
That’s compared to regular CT claims filed by workers who are still working for their employer, which start off more expensive but tend to develop more slowly overtime.
Example
The owner of a produce company said he had to lay off 46 workers, and a few of them started filing CT claims using the same attorney. Eventually, word got around among the other laid-off workers, and 16 of them had filed claims alleging CT injuries.
The firm’s workers' comp carrier eventually set aside more than $500,000 in reserve for these claims. The employer’s X-Mod rose substantially to 350, and his premiums increased significantly as a result.
The takeaway
While these claims have long been a persistent problem in Southern California, they are spreading to other parts of the state, including the Bay Area and Sacramento, Katherine Antonello, CEO of Employers Holdings, said during the company’s earnings call in August 2025.
They’ve become such a burden on the system that California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara acknowledged the rising frequency of these claims when approving a recent workers' comp benchmark rate increase.
Employers should strive to reduce the risk of repetitive motion and cumulative injuries as part of good safety practice. At the same time, it’s important to document all injuries and near misses.
If a CT claim is filed, employers should conduct thorough investigations, meticulously document workplace hazards and training, and assess possible links between the injury and work.
Also check with your insurer to ensure the claim was filed within the state’s statute of limitations, which is one year. For post-termination claims, the clock starts on the worker’s last day of employment. For active employees, when the filing period begins depends on the specific facts, including when the injury is recognized as work-related.
