Peyton S. Irby, Jr., Stephen R. Cupp, and Susan Fahey Desmond, Editors
Watkins Ludlam Winter & Stennis, P.A.

Vol. 15, No. 5
August 2008

JOB-RELATED INJURIES

Workers' compensation and time limits

Mississippi's workers' compensation law has been around for approximately 60 years, but litigation over when an employee will be barred from making a claim continues. A recent case from the Mississippi Court of Appeals discusses the time limitations.

Facts

Timmy Prentice was employed by Schindler Elevator Company in Jackson. In 2001, he was injured when he fell out of a portable bathroom that had been suspended approximately 15 feet above the ground. He informed his supervisor, Doug McIntyre, about the injury, and McIntyre told him to send a "First Notice of Injury" form to Schindler's office in Birmingham, Alabama.

Prentice visited an emergency room and then several doctors for medical attention. He missed more than five days of work because of his injury. He later left Schindler but returned to work at the company's Shreveport, Louisiana, location.

Initially, Schindler paid some of Prentice's medical bills under workers' comp, but it eventually stopped paying them. Prentice contacted McIntyre, who gave him a phone number for Schindler's insurer, Zurich Insurance. A person there told him that Zurich would pay his medical bills as soon as it received his B-3 workers' comp form. Eventually, Schindler filed a claim with the Mississippi Workers' Comp Commission (MWCC).

Schindler and Zurich asked the MWCC to dismiss Prentice's claim as untimely based on the statute of limitations, but their request was denied. The Circuit Court of Hinds County reversed that decision, however, and Prentice appealed to the Mississippi Court of Appeals.

Court's decision

According to the Mississippi Workers' Compensation Act (MWCA), if an employee suffers an injury that causes him to miss more than five days of work, his employer or its insurance carrier will file the B-3 form within 10 days after the five-day waiting period has been satisfied. No compensation except medical benefits is allowed for the first five days of the disability, but if the injury results in a disability that lasts 14 days or longer, compensation is allowed from the date of disability.

The appeals court found that it was undisputed that Prentice missed at least five days of work and that Schindler, through McIntyre, knew his absences were attributable to his job-related injury. The court therefore found that the employer was required to file the Form B-3.

The court of appeals also found that Schindler was barred from asserting the statute of limitations as a defense because it failed to comply with the MWCA's notice requirements. Schindler countered that it had complied with the notice requirements because Prentice sent an Alabama First Notice of Injury form (which is similar to the B-3) to its Birmingham office. The court found two flaws in that argument.

First, the facsimile form sent to Schindler's Birmingham office didn't prove that the company forwarded the form to either the Alabama workers' comp agency or the MWCC. Second, an injured employee may receive workers' comp benefits from more than one state, and sending a notice of injury form to another state's agency doesn't qualify as notice under Mississippi law.

The findings of the circuit court were therefore reversed, and the case was sent back to the MWCC. Prentice v. Schindler Elevator Company, et al., Mississippi Court of Appeals, No. 2007-WC-00815-COA.

File that notice!

In this case, the employer let the workers' comp notice filing slip through the cracks. Now it will be required to defend an old injury claim through the workers' comp system, hampered by the possibility that witnesses' memories may have faded over time. Rather than just paying the worker's medical bills, it might also be required to pay some interest and penalties for late payment and expend additional time and money defending the case. Had the employer filed the notice of injury form properly, the claim probably never would have gotten to court.

Remember, it's your responsibility to file a timely notice of injury with the proper agency. Sometimes, your insurance carrier ends up filing the form, but it's always wise to double-check and make sure it has been done.

You can catch up on the latest court cases involving workers' comp in the subscribers' area of www.HRhero.com, the website for Mississippi Employment Law Letter. Just log in and use the HR Answer Engine to search for articles from our 50 Employment Law Letters. Need help? Call customer service at (800) 274-6774.

Copyright 2008 M. Lee Smith Publishers LLC

MISSISSIPPI EMPLOYMENT LAW LETTER does not attempt to offer solutions to individual problems but rather to provide information about current developments in Mississippi employment law. Questions about individual problems should be addressed to the employment law attorney of your choice. Note: The Mississippi Bar requires the following statement: Listing of the previously mentioned areas of practice does not indicate any certificate of expertise therein.