Following a contested case hearing (CCH) held on October 3, 2000, pursuant to the Texas Workers’ Compensation Act, TEX. LAB. CODE ANN. § 401.001 et seq. (1989 Act), the hearing officer resolved the disputed issue by determining that the respondent (claimant) is entitled to supplemental income benefits for the twelfth quarter. The appellant (carrier) has appealed and first asserts that the hearing officer erred in admitting prior decisions and Appeals Panel decisions which pertain to the eighth, ninth, tenth, and eleventh quarters because those documents are not relevant to the disputed issue. The carrier then disputes the dispositive legal conclusion and challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to support certain underlying factual findings. The file does not contain a response from the claimant.
DECISION
Reversed and remanded.
Section 410.203(a)(1) requires that the Appeals Panel consider the record developed at the CCH. The audiotape recording of this hearing is virtually inaudible and is not a sufficient record for the purposes of appellate review. Accordingly, we must remand for reconstruction of the record.
Pending resolution of the remand, a final decision has not been made in this case. However, since reversal and remand necessitate the issuance of a new decision and order by the hearing officer, a party who wishes to appeal from such new decision must file a
request for review not later than 15 days after the date on which such new decision is received from the Texas Workers’ Compensation Commission’s Division of Hearings, pursuant to Section 410.202. See Texas Workers’ Compensation Commission Appeal No. 92642, decided January 20, 1993.
Philip F. O’Neill – Appeals Judge
CONCUR:
Kathleen C. Decker – Appeals Judge
Robert W. Potts – Appeals Judge