Goodwin v. NBC Universal Media - NBC Universal

Under ORS 656.319(1), an employer must be able to connect a hearing request to the particular denial or matter to which it relates; so a request for a hearing must be related to a particular denial by referencing the particular denial that is being challenged, either directly or indirectly.

Claimant appealed from a Workers' Compensation Board ("Board") determination that his claim was untimely. Claimant assigned error to the Board's determination that his request for hearing from a denial of a new/omitted medical condition claim was untimely. On appeal, Claimant argued that under ORS 656.319, he had good cause for failing to file a request for hearing within 60 days of the mailing of the denial because the ombudsman did not inform Claimant that the final day to file a request for a hearing was December 1, 2014. Additionally, Claimant argued the letters between Claimant and the ombudsman were sufficient to show an intent to request a hearing on the denial. In response, the Board argued that a request for a hearing must be referable to a particular denial and Claimant's letters were not requests for hearing or referable to a denial of the claim. Under ORS 656.319(1), an employer must be able to connect a hearing request to the particular denial or matter to which it relates; so a request for a hearing must be related to a particular denial by referencing the particular denial that is being challenged, either directly or indirectly. The Court held that claimant's letters were not mailed within the 60 days as a result of Claimant's reasonable misunderstanding, meeting the first step in a "good cause" determination under ORS 656.319(1)(b), and that the Board erred by not including its reasoning in support of its conclusion that the facts did not give rise to good cause. 

Reversed and remanded.