(a) If a safety member, a firefighter, a county probation officer, or a member in active law enforcement develops a blood-borne infectious disease or a methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus skin infection, the disease or skin infection so developing or manifesting itself in those cases shall be presumed to arise out of, and in the course of, employment. The blood-borne infectious disease or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus skin infection so developing or manifesting itself in those cases shall in no case be attributed to any disease or skin infection existing prior to that development or manifestation.
(b) Any safety member, firefighter, county probation officer, or member active in law enforcement described in subdivision (a) permanently incapacitated for the performance of duty as a result of a blood-borne infectious disease or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus skin infection shall receive a service-connected disability retirement.
(c) (1) The presumption described in subdivision (a) is rebuttable by other evidence. Unless so rebutted, the board is bound to find in accordance with the presumption.
(2) The blood-borne infectious disease presumption shall be extended to a member following termination of service for a period of three calendar months for each full year of the requisite service, but not to exceed 60 months in any circumstance, commencing with the last date actually worked in the specified capacity.
(3) Notwithstanding paragraph (2), the methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus skin infection presumption shall be extended to a member following termination of service for a period of 90 days commencing with the last day actually worked in the specified capacity.
(d) “Blood-borne infectious disease,” for purposes of this section, means a disease caused by exposure to pathogenic microorganisms that are present in human blood that can cause disease in humans, including, but not limited to, those pathogenic microorganisms defined as blood-borne pathogens by the Department of Industrial Relations.
(e) “Member in active law enforcement,” for purposes of this section, means members employed by a sheriff’s office, by a police or fire department of a city, county, city and county, district, or by another public or municipal corporation or political subdivision or who are described in Chapter 4.5 (commencing with Section 830) of Title 3 of Part 2 of the Penal Code or who are employed by any county forestry or firefighting department or unit, except any of those members whose principal duties are clerical or otherwise do not clearly fall within the scope of active law enforcement services or active firefighting services, such as stenographers, telephone operators, and other office workers, and includes a member engaged in active law enforcement who is not classified as a safety member.
(Amended by Stats. 2008, Ch. 684, Sec. 1. Effective January 1, 2009.)
Last modified: October 25, 2018