CLAIM NOS. F008967, F009694, F105066
Before the Arkansas Workers’ Compensation Commission
ORDER FILED APRIL 3, 2003
Upon review before the FULL COMMISSION in Little Rock, Pulaski County, Arkansas.
Claimant represented by HONORABLE EDDIE H. WALKER, JR., Attorney at Law, Fort Smith, Arkansas.
Respondents No. 1 represented by HONORABLE FRANK NEWELL, Attorney at Law, Little Rock, Arkansas.
Respondent No. 2 represented by HONORABLE JAMES ARNOLD, II, Attorney at Law, Fort Smith, Arkansas.
ORDER
This matter comes before the Full Commission on Respondent No. 1’s Motion to Stay Proceedings and Supplement the Record. This matter is currently pending before the Arkansas Court of Appeals. After duly considering Respondent No. 1’s Motion and all other matters properly before the Commission, we find that we do not have the authority to stay proceedings or supplement the record, and that the Motion must therefore be denied.
A hearing was held in this matter on September 28, 2001, and an Opinion was issued by the Administrative Law Judge on December 21, 2001. Respondent No. 1 appealed and this case was initially scheduled to be submitted to the Full Commission on April 3, 2002. Respondent No. 1 then filed a Petition to Stay Proceedings, and on May 10, 2002, the Full Commission filed an Order which stated:
In correspondence dated April 18, 2002, counsel for the respondents advised the Commission that the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania ordered Legion Insurance Company into rehabilitation . . . the Order of Rehabilitation was filed in the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania on March 28, 2002. The Order states: . . . All court actions, . . . pending against an insured of Legion . . . are stayed for ninety (90) days from the effective date of this order or such additional time as the rehabilitator may request. Under these circumstances, we find that the Petition to Stay Proceedings must be granted.
On July 10, 2002, ninety (90) days after the preceding Stay Order was filed, this case was placed on the Full Commission’s docket. The file in this matter contains a memorandum from the Clerk of the Commission dated January 13, 2003, which states:
Attached to this memo is a copy of a second Stay Order issued. Neither party to the above case has requested any action from the Commission regarding this second Order.
Attached to the memorandum is a letter from Respondent No. 1’s attorney, dated September 26, 2001, but file-marked January 9, 2003, to which is attached an Order from the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania that states: “And now, this 27th day of December, 2002, . . . the Stay . . . is extended to thirty-one (31) days . . . ending January 31, 2003.”
It is unclear when the above memo from the Clerk of the Commission was received by the Full Commission; however, the Full Commission’s Opinion affirming as modified the Administrative Law Judge’s Opinion was filed on January 14, 2003. The attorney for Respondent No. 1 wrote a letter to the Clerk of the Commission on January 23, 2003, stating:
On September 26, 2001, I sent you a copy of an Order entered by the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania staying proceedings involving Legion Insurance Company . . . for a period of time ending January 31, 2003. On January 14, 2003, the Full Commission handed down its decision in this case. That decision requires respondent Legion to pay benefits. . . . I am wondering at this point whether I should assume that the Commission has decided that the Order of the Pennsylvania Court is not binding on its proceedings, or whether the decision in this case was released about a week early because of a clerical error.
For their response to the Full Commission’s Opinion, Respondent No. 2 filed a Notice of Appeal to the Arkansas Court of Appeals on February 14, 2003. Respondent No. 1 filed a Notice of Cross-Appeal on February 24, 2003.
On March 12, 2003, Respondent No. 1 filed the Motion that is currently before the Full Commission, which sets forth that on February 28, 2003, the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania entered an Order extending the Stay to March 31, 2003, and requests that the record be supplemented to include that Order and that the proceedings in this case be stayed until that date.
In Walker v. J. J. Pest Control, 270 Ark. App. 941 (Ark.App. 1980), the Court of Appeals wrote:
[A] decision of the Commission does not become final for thirty days, and . . . the Commission has jurisdiction during such thirty-day period to re-open the case for further evidence and modification of the decision. See Mason v. Lauck, 232 Ark. 891, 340 S.W.2d 575
(1960).
In Mason v. Lauck, supra, the claimant filed a Motion to the Commission to re-open the case for consideration of newly-discovered evidence after the case was appealed to the Circuit Court. The Supreme Court held that the Commission was without jurisdiction to re-open the case while it was on appeal to the Circuit Court. The Supreme Court held that the Circuit Court should consider the claimant’s Motion as having been filed in the Circuit Court, which then had the authority to remand to the Commission to re-open the case and consider the newly-discovered evidence.
The Motion currently at issue was filed March 12, 2003, clearly outside of the 30 days following the issuance of our Opinion in this matter, which became final on February 13, 2003. While, the existence of the Stay Orders from the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania complicate the issue, because of the 30-day rule, and because the parties have filed their appeals to the Court of Appeals, we find that the Full Commission no longer has jurisdiction over this case. Because the Commission is without jurisdiction over this claim, we have no authority to grant the respondent’s motion. Therefore, we find that Respondent No. 1’s Motion to Stay Proceedings and Supplement the Record must be and hereby is denied. The Respondent No. 1’s Motion must be made to the Court of Appeals.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
_______________________________ OLAN W. REEVES, Chairman
_______________________________ SHELBY W. TURNER, Commissioner
_______________________________ JOE E. YATES, Commissioner