Fieldhouse v. Regency Coachworks, Inc.

Syllabus

Pursuant to statute (§ 31-294c (a)), no proceedings for workers' compensa- tion shall be maintained unless a written notice of claim for compensa- tion is given, inter alia, within one year of the date of the accident that caused the personal injury. The defendant employer appealed to this court from the decision of the Compensation Review Board reversing the decision of the Workers' Compensation Commissioner denying and dismissing, for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, the plaintiff employee's claim for workers' compen- sation benefits. During the course of her employment with the defendant, the plaintiff was injured, and, thereafter, the plaintiff's direct supervisor advised the plaintiff to submit a workers' compensation claim when her pain did not resolve. Subsequently, the plaintiff visited the defendant's workers' compensation insurance agency, P Co., in person, after it failed to return her calls requesting to file a claim. At P Co., the plaintiff stated that she wanted to file a claim and a P Co. employee, F, told her not to worry because she had two years to file a claim. F assisted the plaintiff with completing a first report of injury and told the plaintiff that she would file the claim for the plaintiff. The plaintiff thereafter received a phone call from the defendant's workers' compensation insurer, B Co., and the plaintiff provided a recorded statement about the incident and the treatment she had received. Shortly thereafter, the plaintiff received correspondence from B Co. indicating that the insurer had opened a claim and assigned a claim number for the plaintiff's date of injury. B Co. also enclosed in that correspondence a pharmacy card. The defendant subsequently filed a form 43 contesting both the jurisdiction and compen- sability of the plaintiff's claim. The plaintiff did not file a form 30C notice of claim or request a hearing within one year of the injuries she had sustained, as required by § 31-294c. The commissioner determined that, bec