Massengale v. Labor Commission
Massengale v. Labor Commission, 2020 UT App 44 (Christiansen Forster, J.)
Workers’ Compensation
In 2002, an employee was injured at work. In 2014, he applied for a hearing on a request for surgery stemming from that injury and a claim for permanent total disability benefits. He withdrew that application and filed another claim for permanent total disability in 2016. The Labor Commission dismissed the employee’s claim as untimely. The Court of Appeals affirmed, holding:
- By statute, an employee’s claim for permanent disability benefits is barred unless the employee “by no later than 12 years from the date of the accident is able to meet the employee’s burden of proving that the employee is due the compensation claimed.” Utah Code §34A-2-417(2)(a). Because the employee was pursuing a claim for surgery alongside his permanent disability claim, he was not in a position—at the 12-year mark in 2014—to prove his entitlement to permanent disability benefits.