Bullock v. AIU Ins. Co.
| Docket Number: | 2007-FC-01859-SCT Linked Case(s): 2007-FC-01859-SCT |
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| Supreme Court: | Opinion Link Opinion Date: 05-08-2008 Opinion Author: Waller, P.J. Holding: CERTIFIED QUESTION ANSWERED; Motion for Rehearing denied; The motion for rehearing is denied. The original opinions are withdrawn and these opinions are substituted therefor. |
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| Additional Case Information: |
Topic: Certified question - M.R.A.P. 20 - Bad faith denial of workers’ compensation benefits - Statute of limitations Judge(s) Concurring: Diaz, P.J., Easley, Carlson, Randolph and Lamar, JJ. Dissenting Author : Dickinson, J., with separate written opinion. Dissent Joined By : Smith, C.J. Concurs in Result Only: Graves, J. Procedural History: Admin or Agency Judgment; Motion for Rehearing Nature of the Case: Motion for Rehearing; CIVIL - FEDERALLY CERTIFIED QUESTION |
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| Note: | This matter is before the Court as a certified question from the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. M.R.A.P. 20. The Court is asked to determine when a decision from an administrative law judge of the Workers’ Compensation Commission The Statement of Case is taken largely from the order certifying the question to this Court. Emphasis and footnotes have been omitted.becomes final for purposes of determining when the statute of limitations begins to run for bringing a tortious breach-of-contract action against an employer, a workers’ compensation insurance carrier, and a third-party claims administrator. The Certified Question was answered on 12/4/2008. | |
| Party Name: | Attorney Name: | Brief(s) Available: | ||
| Appellant: | JIMMY BULLOCK |
LANCE L. STEVENS |
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| Appellee: | AIU INSURANCE COMPANY, THE GOTTFRIED CORPORATION AND AIG CLAIM SERVICES, INC. | REBECCA B. COWAN, EDWARD J. CURRIE, JR., WILLIAM E. McKINLEY, JR. | ||
| Motion for Attorneys' Fees: | ||||
Synopsis provided by:  If you are interested in subscribing to the weekly synopses of all Mississippi Supreme Court and Court of Appeals hand downs please contact Tammy Upton in the MLI Press office. |
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| Topic: | Certified question - M.R.A.P. 20 - Bad faith denial of workers’ compensation benefits - Statute of limitations |
| Summary of the Facts: | Jimmy Bullock appeals the district court’s final judgment in which the court granted defendants’ motion for summary judgment. The court concluded that the applicable statute of limitations barred Bullock’s suit alleging bad faith in the denial of his workers’ compensation benefits and dismissed with prejudice all of his claims against all defendants. The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit asked the Mississippi Supreme Court, under M.R.A.P. 20, to determine when a decision from an administrative law judge of the Workers’ Compensation Commission becomes final for purposes of determining when the statute of limitations begins to run for bringing a tortious breach-of-contract action against an employer, a workers’ compensation insurance carrier, and a third-party claims administrator. |
| Summary of Opinion Analysis: | At issue is whether Bullock’s bad-faith cause of action accrued in 1999 when the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission administrative law judge issued an order declaring Bullock’s injury compensable, or instead, in 2003, when the administrative law judge issued his final order, which was not appealed to the full commission. The October 1999 ruling by the administrative law judge was not a final order from which the statute of limitations period began to run for Bullock to file a complaint against the defendants for bad-faith refusal to provide workers’ compensation benefits. For the 1999 hearing, the parties agreed that the singular issue to be determined was the defendants’ liability for compensation to Bullock. The parties reserved the issue of temporary and permanent disability for a hearing “on the merits” that would take place in 2003. The actions of the parties and the ruling by the administrative judge clearly demonstrate that the hearing in 1999 was interlocutory. The issue of liability for compensation was again submitted by the defendants to the administrative judge for the hearing in October 2003. The judge found the claim compensable and made an award of benefits. This order was final when the defendants filed no appeal within twenty days of the final order entered after the October 2003 hearing. Until that order was final, the administrative remedies were not exhausted, and therefore, no bad-faith action could be filed. |
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