Christopher Johnson was a truck driver for LDI Trucking when on 1/3/21 he made an illegal u-turn and was pulled over by Arizona State Police. He refused to cooperate and was pulled out of the truck cab onto the ground sustaining injuries. He pled guilty to two misdemeanor counts of refusing to provide his drivers' license information and failing to cooperate with police, with both counts carrying the possibility of county jail time and fines. Johnson then filed a work comp claim for his injuries, which was denied under Labor Code Section 3600 (a)(8) which the applicant asserted was inapplicable since he was not convicted of a felony.

The trial judge determined the applicant may have sustained injuries but the claim was nevertheless barred under Labor Code Section 3600(a)(8) which provides an employer does not owe any compensation when an employee's injuries are the result of "...a felony or a crime punishable in Section 17 of the Penal Code for which he/she has been convicted.". Penal Code Section 17 states a crime is a misdemeanor if the crime is punishable by time in a state prison, or county jail, or by fine or county jail. Because Johnson's crimes were punishable by county jail and fines, they were the type of misdemeanors that are included within the LC 3600(a)(8) defense. The decision was upheld on reconsideration. Christopher Johnson v. WCAB (July 1, 2022).

[COMMENT: Most people cite LC 3600(a)(8) as the "felony conviction defense"; however, the legislature obviously intended to include some serious misdemeanor convictions on charges that could have been considered a felony.]