NWCDN Members regularly post articles and summary judgements in workers’ compensations law in your state.
Select a state from the dropdown menu below to scroll through the state specific archives for updates and opinions on various workers’ compensation laws in your state.
Contact information for NWCDN members is also located on the state specific links in the event you have additional questions or your company is seeking a workers’ compensation lawyer in your state.
Also in State Office of Risk Management v. Martinez, the Texas Supreme Court held that, to preserve their case on judicial review, workers’ compensation litigants are only required to appeal the ultimate conclusions of the Division and not the underlying findings of fact supporting those conclusions. In Martinez, the injured worker presented the Court with a cross-petition in support of the court of appeals’ dismissal of the case alleging that SORM waived its right to judicial review by not expressly appealing the Division’s findings of fact. The Supreme Court noted that the courts of appeal were split on whether each finding of fact must be appealed to avoid forfeiture of the right to judicial review. Ultimately, the Court determined that each finding of fact did not have to be appealed. The Labor Code defines incorrect findings of fact as “errors” and not appeals. The parties are entitled to a modified de novo proceeding without deference to the findings of fact of the hearing officer. For this reason, it is not the findings of fact that must be appealed. But rather, the ultimate conclusions of the hearing officer are what must be appealed. In the case of Ms. Martinez, the ultimate conclusions were whether Martinez sustained a compensable injury and whether she had disability. SORM was not required to appeal each finding of fact the hearing officer relied on in coming to these ultimate conclusions. State Office of Risk Management v. Martinez, No. 16-0337 (Tex. Dec. 15, 2017).
-Dan Price, Stone Loughlin & Swanson, LLP.