W.C. No. 4-410-968Industrial Claim Appeals Office.
July 1, 2003
ORDER OF REMAND
This matter is before us to review the claimant’s appeal from the order of Administrative Law Judge Coughlin (ALJ) dated December 10, 2002. We remand the matter to determine whether the claimant filed a timely brief in support of the petition to review.
The ALJ entered an order in December 2002, and the claimant filed a petition to review. On February 20, 2003, the Division of Administrative Hearings (DOAH) issued a briefing schedule. However, this briefing schedule was apparently mailed to an incorrect address for the claimant’s attorney. Thus, on April 7, 2003, an amended briefing schedule was issued.
On May 15, 2003, the ALJ transmitted the matter for review. The “green sheet” bears the notation, “no brief in support filed.” The respondents did file a brief, and that brief makes reference to a brief filed by the claimant.
We received the file on May 16, 2003. We then issued a letter notifying the parties that we received the file, and that the record did not contain a brief from the appealing party (claimant). On May 27, 2003, we received a brief from claimant’s counsel. The brief was signed April 25, 2003, but contains no certificate of mailing or date stamp indicating when the brief was filed with the DOAH. The certificate of mailing attached to the brief shows only that it was mailed to this office on May 22, 2003.
Section 8-43-301(4), C.R.S. 2002, provides that the appealing party must file a brief within twenty days after notice the record has been completed. Either the brief, or request for extension of time to file the brief, must then be filed within the allotted twenty days. If the appealing party fails to take either action, a request for extension of time to file the brief must be denied. Rule of Procedure VII (D)(4), 7 Code Colo. Reg. 1101-3 at 20.
Here, the record does not show whether the claimant timely filed the brief, or timely requested an extension of time to file the brief. Consequently, we are unable to determine whether to consider the claimant’s brief on appeal. Therefore, the matter is remanded to the DOAH to determine whether the claimant timely filed a brief in support of the petition to review. Once this issue is resolved, the matter may be resubmitted for our review.
IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that the matter is remanded to the DOAH to determine whether the claimant filed a timely brief in support of the petition to review. When this matter is resolved, the case may be resubmitted for our review.
INDUSTRIAL CLAIM APPEALS PANEL ___________________________________ David Cain ___________________________________ Kathy E. Dean
Copies of this decision were mailed July 1, 2003 to the following parties:
Paula Roger, 17054 Wellington Dr., Parker, CO 80134
Sodexho Marriott Services, 7401 Martin Luther King Blvd., Denver, CO 80207
National Union Fire Insurance Company, c/o Carilyn Dankan, Crawford Company, P. O. Box 6502, Englewood, CO 80155-6502
J. J. Fraser, III, Esq., 501 S. Cherry St., #500, Denver, CO 80246-1327 (For Claimant)
Gregory Daniels, Esq., 999 18th St., #1600, Denver, CO 80202 (For Respondents)
By: A. Hurtado