Bell v. Industrial Vangas: The Employer-Manufacturer and the Dilemma of Dual Capacity

This Comment considers the history of the exclusive remedy provision of the California workers' compensation system and analyzes the recent California Supreme Court decision of Bell v. Industrial Vangas, in which a new products liability exception to the exclusive remedy provision was declared. The result in Bell is seen as supporting the policies underlying products liability but overlooking the important policies underlying the workers' compensation system. The Comment concludes that the rights of injured workers and their employers would be better served by legislative changes in the workers' compensation system than by the proliferation of exceptions such as the one developed by the Bell court.