West Virginia Court Stresses Six-Month Statute of Limitations is Strictly Construed

W. Va. Code 23-4-15(a), which requires workers’ compensation claims to be filed within six months from and after the date of injury or death, as the case may be, is jurisdictional, held Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia in a memorandum decision [Foltz v. Berkeley County Bd. of Educ., 2021 W. Va. LEXIS 511 (Oct. 4, 2021)]. Accordingly, where a teacher waited almost eleven months after his alleged work-related injury to file his claim, it was untimely. His contention that his failure to file within the time frame should be excused because of various extenuating circumstances was unpersuasive, said the court. A clear reading of the statute indicated there were no such exceptions.

Background

Foltz, a Special Education teacher, sought workers’ compensation benefits for injuries he sustained when he was kicked in the head by an autistic student who was having a violent outburst. The injury occurred on December 12, 2017. The claims administrator received a WC-1 Employees’ and Physicians’ Report of Injury form on November 26, 2018. It had apparently been completed on April 28, 2018.

On November 27, 2018, the claims administrator denied the application for benefits has being untimely filed. Foltz protested the claims administrator’s decision in a lengthy protest letter dated January 1, 2019. In the letter, Foltz gave multiple reasons for the late filing of the claim, including the fact that there had been a teachers’ strike during the period following his date of injury, that the workers’ compensation process was very confusing, as he was a new employee, and that he felt isolated from the information he needed to take appropriate actions regarding the reporting of his injury.

Further, he indicated that he was in a “lose-lose” situation, as he was under the belief that he might lose his teaching license because of the incident. Finding Foltz’s arguments unpersuasive, the Office of Judges affirmed the claims administrator’s decision that the claim had not been timely filed. The Board of Review adopted the findings of fact and conclusions of law of the Office of Judges and affirmed the decision.

Appellate Court

The appellate court affirmed. The court stated that the record clearly established that Foltz’s application for benefits was not fully completed until almost eleven months after the alleged date of injury. The court stressed that the time limitation set forth in W. Va. Code 23-4-15(a) is a condition of the right to benefits and hence jurisdictional. Although Foltz asserted that there were a number of complicating factors that precluded him from filing a timely claim, the court said there were no exceptions to the jurisdictional time limitation requirements set forth in the statute. Accordingly, the Board of Review’s Order was affirmed.