CLAIM NO. F101727
Before the Arkansas Workers’ Compensation Commission
ORDER FILED JULY 11, 2002
Upon review before the FULL COMMISSION in Little Rock, Pulaski County, Arkansas.
Claimant appeared PRO SE.
Respondents represented by HONORABLE CAROL WORLEY, Attorney at Law, Little Rock, Arkansas.
ORDER
This case comes before the Commission on the claimant’s motion to extend the time to file his appeal to the Arkansas Court of Appeals.
In an opinion filed October 26, 2001, an Administrative Law Judge found that the claimant did not sustain a compensable injury pursuant to Act 796 of 1993. The Administrative Law Judge therefore denied and dismissed the claim. The Full Commission affirmed and adopted the Administrative Law Judge’s decision in an unpublished opinion filed April 17, 2002. The claimant did not file a notice of appeal to the Arkansas Court of Appeals.
The claimant, pro se, wrote to the Commission on May 14, 2002, and his letter was filed with the Clerk of the Commission on May 14, 2002. The claimant requested “an extension of time to file an appeal to the Commission and the Court of Appeals.” The respondents pray that the Commission deny the claimant’s motion.
Ark. Code Ann. § 11-9-711(b) provides:
(1) A compensation order or award of the commission shall become final unless a party to the dispute shall, within thirty (30) days from receipt by him or her of the order or award, file notice of appeal to the Court of Appeals, which is designated as the forum for judicial review of those orders and awards.
The procedural requirements set forth in the statute must be strictly complied with. Cooper Industrial Products v. Meadows, 5 Ark. App. 205, 634 S.W.2d 400 (1982); Williams v. Loft Construction Co., 31 Ark. App. 198, 790 S.W.2d 921 (1990). The Commission is not authorized to waive or extend the appeal time. Wright v. Quincy Soybean Co., Workers’ Compensation Commission E602055 (March 25, 1998). Accordingly, the claimant’s motion to extend the time to file his appeal to the Court of Appeals must be, and hereby is, denied.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
______________________________ ELDON F. COFFMAN, Chairman
______________________________ SHELBY W. TURNER, Commissioner
______________________________ JOE E. YATES, Commissioner