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.
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Pro se workers’
compensation claimant Alvy Childress filed suit for judicial review of a
Division decision denying his claim for benefits. Childress named as defendants
his employer, the carrier, and the Division. The Division filed a plea to the
jurisdiction which the trial court granted, and Childress appealed. The Third
Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court’s order granting the Division’s plea
to the jurisdiction. Childress complained on appeal about the hearing he
received at the Division including the fact that it was held by telephone due
to the pandemic and that he was allegedly prevented from presenting evidence or
reviewing or verifying evidence presented at the hearing.
The court of appeals’ decision doesn’t announce any new law but does affirm
some long-held principles. First, pro se litigants are held to the same
standards as represented parties, even at the appellate level. “We
construe appellant’s brief liberally, attempting to discern and comprehend his
appellate issues as best we can, but we must hold him to the same standards as
appellants represented by counsel.” As courts have explained before, if
this were not the case, unrepresented parties would have an unfair
advantage. Second, the Division is not a proper party to a suit for
judicial review. The court cites numerous cases for the proposition that the
Texas Workers’ Compensation Act does not waive the state’s sovereign immunity
and provide a claimant with the right to sue the Division in a judicial review
action.
Childress v. Travelers
Indemn. Co., et al., No.
03-21-00579-CV, 2022 WL 2542005 (Tex. App.—Austin July 8, 2022, no pet.) (mem.
op.).
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