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Bally's Grand Hotel & Casino v. Reeves11/26/1997
' excuse and rejected it for lack of "sufficient cause." We see no reason to disturb the trial court's order remanding the matter to the administrator for reconsideration of all issues. On remand, the administrator will be required to consider the excuse presented by Ms. Reeves and to notify her as to whether her excuse will be allowed under NRS 616.500(6).
WHETHER THE CLAIM SHOULD HAVE BEEN DENIED ON THE GROUND THAT ITS SOLE "ETIOLOGY" IS A PRIOR, NON-INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENT
Ms. Reeves' claim arises from a rear-end collision that occurred in Bally's parking lot on September 25, 1988. On July 20, 1987, some fourteen months before the subject work-related injury, Ms. Reeves was involved in a similar, non-industrial accident. Ms. Reeves claims that the first accident caused physical injuries which to some degree overlap her present injuries. She claims that by the time she was involved in the accident in the Bally's parking lot, she had almost entirely recovered from the headaches and vertigo suffered in the first accident. Ms. Reeves contends that the industrial accident both aggravated her previous injuries and caused injuries independent of the previous injuries. As will be discussed, ample medical evidence is present to support Ms. Reeves' contentions.
As stated above, Bally's denied Ms. Reeves' claim on the ground that it was not properly and timely filed. On June 30, 1989, Ms. Reeves filed a "Request for Hearing," with the Hearing Division. Her request for hearing, understandably, addressed only the issue on which her claim was denied, her failure to comply with the formal filing requirements of NRS 616.500(1). Ms. Reeves explained in her Request for Hearing that she had given oral notice to her supervisor at the time of her accident and noted in this document that "oth managers and asst. managers knew of the accident." Ms. Reeves has maintained throughout that, at the time of the accident, she did not understand that the notice had to be in writing. She also maintains that when she made inquiries to Bally's management about what was required to complete her claim, she was told that appropriate forms and documents were in the process of being re-supplied, that "everything was being changed over" from MGM to Bally's and that the claims procedure "would be taken over later."
On September 18, 1989, a hearing was set to review the denial of Ms. Reeves' claim based on noncompliance with formal claim-filing requirements; however, for some reason not evident in this record, the hearing officer, sua sponte, "determined that the claimant had sustained two separate automobile accidents" and that the claimant was "experiencing similar symptoms" to those that she sustained in a previous non-industrial accident. On September 19, 1989, the hearing officer determined, based on an independent review of the record, that Ms. Reeves' claim must be "remanded to the administrator to have the claimant's claim opened under medical investigation," with the "objective" of determining the "probability" that the "claimant's now presenting symptoms owe their etiology to the most recent automobile accident of September 25, 1988."
The next step in these proceedings was the hearing officer's issuance of an ex parte "Order of Correction," issued sua sponte by the hearing officer on October 27, 1989. In this order, the hearing officer made it clear that jurisdiction was retained and that Ms. Reeves' rights to appeal were suspended, pending receipt of a "medical investigation" that the hearing officer ordered Bally's to complete.
In response to the hearing officer's October 27, 1989 order, Bally's claims administrator submitted its "medical investigation" in the form of a n
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