State ex rel. ISP Minerals, Inc. v. Labor & Indus. Relations Comm’n

Employee filed a claim for workers’ compensation benefits arising out of a work-related pulmonary condition. Employer and Employee entered into a settlement that expressly left “future related pulmonary med[ical] care open.” An administrative law judge approved the settlement. The dispute in this case centered on Employer’s refusal to pay for certain inhaler medicines prescribed to Employee. Employee filed a request for a hearing before the Labor and Industrial Relations Commission to determine whether Employer was required to pay for the inhalers. The Commission concluded that it retained jurisdiction to determine Employer’s liability for Employee’s future medical care and ordered the parties to present their evidence in a hearing before the Division of Workers’ Compensation. Thereafter, Employer filed a petition for a writ of prohibition and, alternatively, mandamus, asserting that the parties’ settlement divested the Commission of jurisdiction over the issue of Employer’s liability for Employee’s future medical care. The Supreme Court quashed the preliminary writ, holding that the Commission was not divested of jurisdiction to determine the extent of a claimant’s entitlement to workers’ compensation benefits pursuant to a settlement that expressly leaves the issue of future medical care “open” and indeterminate. View "State ex rel. ISP Minerals, Inc. v. Labor & Indus. Relations Comm’n" on Justia Law