Live or work in Whittier?

Where we are

Our office is in Los Angeles, at 1625 W. Olympic Blvd, Suite 802. We do not have an office in Whittier.

What that means for you:

• The consultation is a phone call, in English, Spanish or Korean. It is free.
• The case runs by phone, mail and electronic filing. You do not have to come to our office to keep it moving.
• If you cannot come to us, we come to you. We make home and hospital visits. Say so when you call.
• Your hearings are at the court that has your case, and for Whittier that is 320 W. 4th Street. Most conferences are held by video, and the link is on your hearing notice. Trials, expedited hearings and walk-throughs are in person there. We have practiced in the downtown workers’ compensation court since 1965.

Whittier, by the numbers

The city had 87,306 people at the 2020 Census. The figures below are the Census Bureau’s 2020–2024 American Community Survey estimates for the city, next to the same figures for the county:

Survey estimates have margins of error, so treat them as approximate.

Which court hears a Whittier case

All ten Whittier ZIP codes go to the Los Angeles office. The Division of Workers’ Compensation publishes the list behind its ZIP code locator. On it, 90601, 90602, 90603, 90604, 90605, 90606, 90607, 90608, 90609 and 90610 are all assigned to Los Angeles, at 320 W. 4th Street. None goes to Pomona or Long Beach. The Postal Service names Whittier as the city for all ten.

The unincorporated communities with Whittier addresses go downtown too. Much of what people call Whittier is unincorporated Los Angeles County, which the Census Bureau counts as separate places:

That is more than 95,000 people, more than live in the city itself (the total is our sum). If you live in one of these communities, nothing on this page changes for you.

Avocado Heights is split. Its part in 90601 goes to Los Angeles. Most of its land is in 91746, which goes to Pomona.

Next door, where the list sends each neighbor:

La Habra Heights and La Mirada are in Los Angeles County, but the list sends their ZIP codes to Anaheim, an Orange County office. ZIP 90631 is shared with La Habra, which is in Orange County. Look up your own ZIP code before you assume.

The rule behind the list: Labor Code § 5501.5

The statute speaks in counties. The Application for AdjudicationApplication for Adjudication Opens your case at the Appeals Board. One year. may be filed in the county where you live on the date of filing; the county where the injury occurred or, in cumulative traumaCT — Cumulative trauma Injury from repeated exposure over time. The largest injury category in California and the least claimed. and industrial disease claims, where the last injurious exposure occurred; or, if you have a lawyer, the county where your lawyer maintains a principal place of business. Your written consent to the venue chosen is filed with the application.

Los Angeles County has five district offices. Where a county has more than one, the law says the application is filed at a location in that county “that meets the criteria specified in subdivision (a).” The DWCDWC Division of Workers’ Compensation, part of the Department of Industrial Relations. Administers the system. Information Services Center: 1-800-736-7401.’s ZIP code list shows which office serves each ZIP code.

If you live in Whittier and were hurt in Los Angeles County, every option points to Los Angeles County: where you live, where you were hurt, and where our principal place of business is. The choice matters when the injury happened elsewhere: a Whittier resident hurt at a job in La Habra, in Orange County, may file in either county.

If the attorney’s county is the one chosen, the employer may object within 30 days, and a timely objection sends the case to the county where you live or where you were hurt. After filing, venue changes only on a petition showing good cause. How the offices compare.

The court downtown

320 W. 4th Street, 9th Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90013 · (213) 576-7335

• Court sits in two sessions: 8:30 a.m. to noon, and 1:30 to 5:00 p.m. Plan on half a day for anything in person.
• Walk-throughs run 8:00 to 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 to 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.
• Everyone who is not staff goes through a metal detector, and bags go through an x-ray machine. Allow time for the line.
• By video: status conferences, mandatory settlement conferences, priority conferences, rating MSCs and lien conferences. In person: trials, expedited hearings and walk-throughs.

Parking, food, and the rules on the 9th floor are on our Los Angeles office page.

Getting downtown from Whittier

Montebello Bus Lines runs three lines between Whittier and downtown Los Angeles. From its schedule effective September 20, 2026:

The adult base fare is $1.25, and $1.30 on the express. The schedule does not say how far any of these stops is from 320 W. 4th Street, so check yours before a trial day. Downtown, the Metro B and D Lines stop at Pershing Square, a block from the building.

Most of a case does not need the trip at all, because conferences are held by video.

Who works here, and how they get hurt

One employed Whittier resident in four works in education, health care or social assistance: 10,040 people. Nearly one in five works for a government, against about one in eight countywide.

The city’s own list of its largest employers dates from 2014. Whittier’s Annual Comprehensive Financial Report for the year ended June 30, 2025 prints its 2014 list, sourced to InfoUSA, and says current information is not available:

Hospitals and health care. Four of the ten were health care employers. In a hospital, two regulations come first: the law requires acute care hospitals to replace manual patient handling with lifting devices and lift teams, and the law requires a workplace violence prevention plan and a Violent Incident Log. A documented failure to follow either is evidence. Healthcare worker claims.

Schools, the college and public payrolls. With nearly one worker in five on a government payroll, the public-employer rules matter here. If you work for a school district, or a community college district such as Rio Hondo, the Education Code gives you industrial accident leaveIndustrial accident leave At least 60 days at full salary for school employees. of not less than 60 days in a fiscal year, paid so that, added to temporary disabilityTD / TTD / TPD Temporary Disability, Total or Partial. Wage replacement while recovering. Two-thirds of average weekly earnings; 2026 maximum $1,764.11/week., it brings you up to your full salary (§§ 44984 and 45192 for school districts; §§ 87787 and 88192 for community college districts). I work for a school district. · School employees. · Public employees.

Freight, trucking and warehouses. Transportation, warehousing and utilities employ 7.8% of working residents, and two freight companies were on the 2014 list. Truck and delivery drivers. · Warehouse workers.

When the work wore you out over years, with no single day to point to, that is a cumulative trauma claim, and it is a real claim. What shows up in the ratings: low back · shoulder · knee · carpal tunnel and repetitive strain

Spanish, Korean or English

Whittier speaks Spanish at home at about the county’s rate, but the share who speak English less than “very well” is half the county’s. Of residents five and older, 30,143 (36.9%) speak Spanish at home, and 11.5% speak English less than “very well,” against 23.4% countywide. Among the Spanish speakers, 7,718, about one in four, told the Census Bureau they speak English less than “very well.” The survey counts 497 Korean speakers in the city, with a margin of error of ±277.

Spanish- and Korean-language services are provided by attorneys and staff of this firm who are fluent in those languages. Ask for Spanish or Korean when you call.

An interpreter is your right, at no cost to you: at treatment, at medical-legal exams, at depositions, and at hearings. Your interpreter rights. Immigration status does not affect your right to benefits. If you are undocumented.

¿Vive o trabaja en Whittier? Su caso normalmente se tramita en la oficina del WCAB de Los Ángeles, en 320 W. 4th Street. Consultas gratis en español.

Free help, and where to report unsafe work

Information & Assistance officers answer questions and help with forms at no cost. They do not represent you. For a Whittier case that is the Los Angeles unit, 320 W. 4th Street, 9th Floor, (213) 576-7389. The DWC also runs free workshops for injured workers by Zoom at 3 p.m., on the first Friday of each month in English and the third Friday in Spanish. Statewide, the DWC Information Services Center is (800) 736-7401.

For a Whittier job site, Cal/OSHA’s office is Monrovia, not the one in the downtown court building. DIR’s office lookup assigns every Whittier ZIP code to the Monrovia district office, 800 Royal Oaks Drive, Suite 105, (626) 239-0369. Cal/OSHA enforces workplace safety. It does not decide benefits. Unsafe work and your rights.

The deadlines

In cumulative trauma, the date of injuryDate of injury For a cumulative or occupational disease claim, the law sets it as when you first suffered disability and knew or should have known it was work-related — not when the wear began. Almost every deadline runs off this. is not when the wear started. It is the date you first suffered disability and knew, or should reasonably have known, that work caused it. Every deadline, counted from your date.

Talk to us

Free consultation in English, Spanish, or Korean. No fee unless we recover. The attorney fee in a workers’ compensation case is set by a workers’ compensation judgeWCJ Workers’ Compensation Judge. Decides your case. There is no jury. and paid from the recovery. You are not responsible for costs we advance if there is no recovery. What a lawyer costs.