Omar v. Royal Am. Foods and Liberty Mutual Insurance Co., Case No: WC14-5745 (December 18, 2014)
In this case, the employee and the employer and insurer submitted a stipulation for settlement to OAH asserting that three medical providers had been notified of their potential intervention and/or Spaeth interests and had failed to intervene. The agreement specified that copies of notice were previously put on file at OAH. The parties asked the court to deny the potential intervention interests based on noncompliance with the statute governing intervention.
The compensation judge denied approval of the stipulation because the parties did not attach the requisite notices and proof of service sent to the potential intervenors and have not provided such documentation to the Court upon request.
The employee appealed the compensation judge’s decision and the WCCA affirmed. The employee asserted in his brief on appeal that potential intervenors had notice and attached signature pages from two of the intervenors to his brief. The WCCA however denied the employee’s request to execute the Award on Stipulation because the signature pages attached to the brief were executed well after the stipulation was filed with OAH and there’s no indication if the judge received those pages before issuing her order.
Additionally, the WCCA notes that it does not have jurisdiction to grant the requested relief because it no long has authority to approve settlement agreements pursuant to Minn. Stat. §176.521, subd. 1(b).