Blink writes on www.xxxporntalk.com: Are porn performers in LA eligible to receive Workers' Compensation for work-related injuries? pornlaw posted at ADT[1] in January 2008 that an unnamed legal case in Santa Monica, CA established that porn performers are employees rather than contractors and are therefore eligible to receive WC through claims, which could be very expensive for LA porn studios.
However, an article at ScrapeTV[2] written in December 2008 claims that a few "big name porn stars team[ed] up for worker compensation," forming the "Association for Protection of Adult Workers" (I hadn't heard of ScrapeTV before, and the APAW doesn't seem to exist). That article suggests that they are not eligible to receive WC and are still considered independent contractors rather than employees[3].
Porn performers are apparently not offered health insurance coverage through porn studios, either. If they're ineligible for WC, then certainly the situation appears to be rather unpleasant for porn performers who are injured while performing. Teagan, at least, paid out-of-pocket for her hospital visits following porn-related injuries[4]. Cal/OSHA appears to be rather ineffectual as well, or at least it was[5] back in 2007.
So, what's the truth here? Does anyone know what the current situation is? I'm inclined to believe that what pornlaw pointed out remains true, but if anyone has a link to a reputable source that contradicts him, please provide it.
1. http://forum.adultdvdtalk.com/forum/topic.dlt/topic_id=114374/forum_id=1/cat_id=1/reply=1205174#post1205174
2. http://scrapetv.com/News/News%20Pages/Entertainment/pages/Big-name-porn-stars-team-up-for-worker-compensation-Scrape-TV-The-World-on-your-side.html
3. http://articles.latimes.com/2004/apr/20/local/me-adult20?pg=2
4. http://www.teaganraw.com/news/index.php?month=10&year=2007
5. http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1892037
