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THE SUPREME COURT OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
___________________________
Compensation Appeals Board
No. 99-021
APPEAL OF JAMAR d/b/a DUNKIN DONUTS & a.
(New Hampshire Compensation Appeals Board)
July 17, 2000
Wadleigh, Starr & Peters, P.L.L.C., of Manchester (Michael R. Mortimer on the brief and orally), for the petitioners.
Borofsky, Lewis & Amodeo-Vickery, P.A., of Manchester (Mark S. Gearreald and Stephen E. Borofsky on the brief, and Mr. Borofsky orally), for the respondent.
NADEAU, J. The petitioners, JAMAR d/b/a Dunkin Donuts and its workers' compensation insurance carrier, Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, appeal a 1997 decision by the New Hampshire Compensation Appeals Board (board) granting the respondent, Elizabeth Farley, a rehearing before the board. The petitioners concede that at the rehearing the board had sufficient evidence to support its finding that the respondent's repetitive use of a cream dispensing machine at work caused carpal tunnel syndrome in her right hand and wrist. Thus, the sole issue on appeal is whether the board had authority to grant a rehearing to review its initial conclusion regarding the nature of the respondent's injury. We affirm.
The respondent applied for workers' compensation benefits, which were denied by the petitioners. After a hearing before the department of labor, the hearing officer concluded that she was not entitled to workers' compensation benefits. She appealed to the board, see RSA 281-A:43, I(b) (1999), and was granted a hearing on March 15, 1996. At this hearing, the respondent argued, among other things, that her carpal tunnel syndrome was caused by repetitive use of the cream dispensing machine. Five months after the hearing, the board denied the respondent's appeal without addressing her repetitive-use argument. The board's decision stated only that the claimant had "failed to establish that her [carpal tunnel syndrome] was related to her slip and fall at work on December 23, 1993."
On August 23, 1996, the respondent timely moved for rehearing, see RSA 541:3 (1997), which the board denied on November 21, 1996. Four days after the supreme court thirty-day appeal period had expired, see RSA 281-A:43, I(c) (1999) and RSA 541:6 (1997), the respondent sent a letter to the department of labor expressing dissatisfaction with the board's decision and requesting that it reconsider its denial of her motion. The letter alleged that the board "simply failed to deal with the matter in controversy," due, in part, to the five months that had elapsed between the hearing and the decision. The letter also indicated that the respondent had not appealed the board's decision because of financial constraints.
On February 3, 1997, the board reversed its prior denial of the respondent's request for a rehearing. After the rehearing, the board found in favor of the respondent, reversing its prior decision. The petitioners unsuccessfully moved for a rehearing and filed the instant appeal.
The petitioners argue that the board erred by granting the rehearing because: (1) the respondent did not timely appeal, and thus, the board's earlier decision was final and binding; (2) the board violated the New Hampshire Department of Labor rules by granting the rehearing; (3) the board lacked jurisdiction to grant the rehearing; and (4) the board's earlier denial collaterally estopped the respondent from relitigating the causal relationship between her injury and her employment.
"We will overturn the board's decision only for errors of law, or if we are satisfied by a clear preponderance of the evidence before us that the order is unjust or unreasonable." Appeal of Wausau Ins. Cos., 143 N.H. 478, 480, 727 A.2d 988, 989 (1999) (quotation omitted).
Under the Workers' Compensation Law, unless a party appeals to the supreme court, the decision of the board shall become final thirty days after the application for a rehearing is denied. See RSA 281-A:43, II (1999 & Supp. 1999); RSA 541:6. "In view of the practical protective function of workers' compensation, the desirability of preserving a right to reopen for genuine mistake seems too self-evident for argument." 8 A. Larson & L. Larson, Larson's Workers' Compensation Law