This appeal arises pursuant to the Texas Workers’ Compensation Act, TEX. LAB. CODE ANN. § 401.001 et seq. (1989 Act). A contested case hearing (CCH) was held on July 14, 1999. The issues at the CCH were injury and disability. The hearing officer determined that the appellant (claimant) did not sustain a compensable injury to her back on ________, and did not have disability. The claimant appealed, contending, essentially, that the determinations of the hearing officer are so against the great weight of the evidence as to be clearly wrong or manifestly unjust and reciting evidence in favor of her claim. The respondent (carrier) responds, contending that there is sufficient evidence to support the determinations of the hearing officer.
DECISION
A timely appeal not having been filed, the decision and order of the hearing officer have become final pursuant to Section 410.169.
Pursuant to Section 410.202 and Tex. W.C. Comm’n, 28 TEX. ADMIN. CODE § 143.3(c) (Rule 143.3(c)), an appeal, to be timely, must be filed or mailed not later than the 15th day after the date of receipt of the hearing officer’s decision. Records of the Texas Workers’ Compensation Commission (Commission) show that the hearing officer’s decision was mailed to the claimant on July 29, 1999, with a cover letter dated July 29, 1999. The claimant states that she received the hearing officer’s decision on August 4, 1999.
Under Rule 102.5(a), all notices and written communications to the claimant or claimant’s representative will be mailed to the last address supplied by the claimant or representative. Rule 102.5(h) provides that the claimant is deemed to have received the decision of the hearing officer five days after it was mailed. The Appeals Panel has held that where Commission records show mailing on a particular day to the address confirmed by the claimant as being correct, a mere statement that the decision was not received until a later date is not necessarily sufficient to extend the date of receipt past the deemed date of receipt. Texas Workers’ Compensation Commission Appeal No. 990170, decided March 18, 1999 (Unpublished); Texas Workers’ Compensation Commission Appeal No. 982248, decided November 5, 1998. We note that the sign-in sheet for the CCH, signed by the claimant, shows the same address for the claimant as that to which the hearing officer’s decision was sent. Under Rule 102.5(h), the claimant is deemed to have received the hearing officer’s decision on Tuesday, August 3, 1999, five days after it was mailed. The claimant had 15 days, or until Wednesday, August 18, 1999, to mail her request for review to the Commission. While the certificate of service recites service on the carrier’s attorney and the Commission on August 19, 1999, the adhesive postage label attached to the envelope containing the claimant’s appeal shows it was mailed from (City), Texas, on August 20, 1999. The appeal was mailed more than 15 days after the deemed receipt date and was untimely.
The appeal being untimely, the jurisdiction of the Appeals Panel was not properly invoked and the decision and order of the hearing officer have become final.
Dorian E. Ramirez – Appeals Judge
CONCUR:
Joe Sebesta – Appeals Judge
Alan C. Ernst – Appeals Judge