In Charles J. Vacanti, M.D., Inc. v. State Comp. Ins. Fund (2001) 24 Cal. 4th 800, a group of medical providers sued a group of workers' compensation insurers, alleging the insurers conspired to put them out of business by intentionally mishandling their lien claims before the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board, and seeking recovery for damages to their businesses. The court in Vacanti held that the exclusive remedy provisions of the Workers' Compensation Act, where the alleged injury is collateral to or derivative of a compensable injury, barred plaintiffs' damage claims based on mishandling of their lien claims and barred their causes of action for abuse of process and fraud. However, the Vacanti court permitted other causes of action; i.e., those seeking damages for Cartwright Act violations and RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act) violations, as well as tortuous interference with contractual and prospective economic relations, and violations of unlawful competition laws. (Vacanti, supra, 24 Cal. 4th at pp. 812, 820.) And the court reiterated the long-standing rule that if an injury falls within the scope of the exclusive remedy provisions, it can only be taken outside the workers' compensation claims context and treated as an ordinary civil matter in " 'some exceptional circumstances,' " such as where offending conduct is not a part of the normal employment relationship or the compensation claims process, or where the motive behind the misconduct violates a " 'fundamental policy of this state.' " ( Id. at pp. 812, 820-823.)