Hartford Ins. Co. v. Crain
246 S.W.3d 374 (Tex. App.--Austin 2008, no pet.)
On behalf of Hartford Insurance Company, we successfully challenged the trial court’s dismissal of its suit for judicial review of a final decision by the Texas Workers’ Compensation Commission. For years, workers’ compensation system participants were confused about whether appeals from Appeals Panel decisions are required to be filed within 30 days or within 40 days. Courts have typically worked through a convoluted analysis in each individual case to determine whether the case is one involving compensability or income or death benefits or an issue other than compensability or income or death benefits. The appeal deadline would be contingent on what type of case was involved. We argued that the rule is simple – all appeals from Appeals Panel decisions must be filed within 40 days pursuant to section 410.252 of the Labor Code. The Third Court of Appeals agreed and remanded the case back to district court.
