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Meredith v. Atlanta Intermodal Rail Services2/25/2002
In this workers' compensation case, the employer filed a notice to controvert the employee's claim more than 21 days after learning about the injury. We granted certiorari to consider whether the employer was precluded from raising a defense to the employee's claim for benefits because it filed its late notice to controvert without paying benefits.
Based on OCGA § 34-9-221 and the case law interpreting it, we hold that the employer's failure to pay income benefits to the employee before filing a notice to controvert that is untimely under OCGA § 34-9-221 (d) does not bar the employer from raising defenses to the employee's claim for benefits. Because the employer here was not precluded as a matter of law from presenting its defenses and the evidence supports the findings in the administrative proceeding that the employee did not sustain an injury during the course of his employment, we affirm the trial court's denial of benefits.
James Meredith claimed that he was injured while working as a trailer mechanic for Atlanta Intermodal Rail Service, which repairs railroad and trucking company trailers and containers. He filed a notice of claim with the State Board of Workers' Compensation seeking temporary total disability income benefits, medical benefits, and attorney fees. The employer and its insurer filed the employer's first notice of injury on May 10, 1999, and filed the initial notice to controvert on June 17, 1999, more than 21 days after learning about the employee's injury. In an additional notice filed on July 15, 1999, the employer contended that Meredith did not suffer an injury arising out of or in the course of his employment. The employer did not pay any benefits to the employee before challenging his claim.
The board's administrative law judge found that Meredith was not credible and concluded that he was not entitled to benefits because his injury did not arise out of and in the course of his employment.
Meredith appealed to the appellate division of the board, contending that Atlanta Intermodal should not have been allowed to present any defenses because it paid no accrued benefits before filing its late notice to controvert. Rejecting his argument, the appellate division affirmed the denial of his benefits; the superior court affirmed that decision, and the Court of Appeals of Georgia denied his application for discretionary appeal. We granted the employee's petition for certiorari to consider an apparent conflict between the1982 decision of the court of appeals in Raines & Milam v. Milam and its 1996 decision in Cartersville Ready Mix Co. v. Hamby concerning the employer's right to file a late notice to controvert.
STATUTES OF LIMITATION IN OCGA § 34-9-221
OCGA § 34-9-221 governs the procedure for employers and insurers to follow in paying income benefits to employees and disputing the employees' claims. Subsection (a) states that benefits shall be paid directly to the claimant, without an award, except when the employer controverts liability. The statute specifies three distinct periods when an employer may file a notice to controvert, with the time running from the date of the employer's knowledge of the injury or death. First, the employer may file a notice under subsection (d) within 21 days of learning about the injury and not pay income benefits until the board issues an award. Second, when the employer has paid benefits to the claimant without a board award, the employer may file a notice under subsection (h) within "60 days of the due date of first payment of compensation," which is 81 days from the date of the employer's knowledge of the injury. Third, subsection (h) also permits the employer that has paid
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