{"id":"alj-H101867-2024-02-27","awcc_number":"H101867","decision_date":"2024-02-27","opinion_type":"alj","claimant_name":"Thurn Apple","employer_name":"White River Area Agency On Aging","title":"APPLE VS. WHITE RIVER AREA AGENCY ON AGING AWCC# H101867 FEBRUARY 27, 2024","outcome":"dismissed","outcome_keywords":["dismissed:7","granted:2","denied:1"],"injury_keywords":["hip","neck","back","ankle"],"pdf_url":"https://labor.arkansas.gov/wp-content/uploads/APPLE_THURN_H101867_20240227.pdf","source_index_url":"https://labor.arkansas.gov/workers-comp/awcc-opinions/administrative-law-judge-opinions/","filename":"APPLE_THURN_H101867_20240227.pdf","text_length":3658,"full_text":"BEFORE THE ARKANSAS WORKERS’ COMPENSATION COMMISSION \n \nCLAIM NO. H101867 \n \nTHURN K. APPLE, EMPLOYEE            CLAIMANT \n \nWHITE RIVER AREA AGENCY ON AGING, EMPLOYER         RESPONDENT \n \nAGING SERVICES FUND/ \nRISK MANAGEMENT SERVICES, CARRIER/TPA          RESPONDENT \n            \nOPINION FILED FEBRUARY 27, 2024 \n \nHearing  before  Administrative  Law  Judge  James  D.  Kennedy  in  Mountain  Home, \nBaxter County, Arkansas, on February 21, 2024. \n \nClaimant is pro se and failed to appear. \n \nRespondents are represented by Mr. Jarrod S. Parrish, Attorney-at-Law of Little Rock, \nArkansas. \n \nSTATEMENT OF THE CASE \n \n A  hearing  was  held  in  the  above-styled  matter  on  February 21,  2024,  in Mountain \nHome, Arkansas, on respondents’ Motion to Dismiss for failure to prosecute pursuant to Rule \n099.13 of the Arkansas Workers’ Compensation Act.  The claimant was pro se and failed to \nappear for the hearing.  The claimant had filed multiple Form AR-Cs on the following dates: \nFebruary 23, 2021; March 1, 2021; January 10, 2023; and June 5, 2023. The employer had \nfiled a First Report of Injury on February 8, 2021, stating that the claimant had slipped and \nfell while going down the steps of a client. The Form AR-N filed on the same date provided \nthat the claimant had injured her “butt, left hip, neck, back, arms, head, and left ankle.”  The \nForm AR-2 filed on February 26, 2021, provided that the respondent was controverting the \nclaim, contending that the claim did not occur within the course and scope of employment.  \nAn Opinion by the Full Commission dated September 20, 2023, adopted the Opinion issued \nby the administrative law judge that held that the claimant had been assigned a five percent \n(5%)  rating  to  the  body  as  a  whole,  which  had  been  accepted  by  the  respondents  with  all \n\nAPPLE – H101867 \n \n2 \n \nappropriate benefits paid, that the claimant was entitled to wage-loss in the amount of  five \npercent (5%) and attorney fees, but was not entitled to permanent and total disability.  The \nclaimant was originally represented by Laura Beth York, who was allowed to withdraw by an \nOrder from the Full Commission dated December 1, 2023.   A Motion to Dismiss was filed on \nOctober 16, 2023, requesting that the matter be dismissed for failure to prosecute pursuant \nto Commission Rule 099.13.  The claimant has not requested an additional hearing to date \nand  there  is  no  record  of  her  contacting  the  Commission  after  the  date  her  attorney  was \nallowed to withdraw.   \n Appropriate  notice  was  provided  to  the  claimant  notifying  her  that  a  hearing  on  the \nMotion to Dismiss was set for February 21, 2024, in Mountain Home, Arkansas.  The claimant \ndid not file a response and failed to appear on the hearing date.  At the time of the hearing, \nJarrod  S.  Parrish  appeared  on  behalf  of  the  respondents and asked  that  the  matter  be \ndismissed for lack of prosecution. \n After  a  review  of  the  record  as  a  whole,  to  include  all  evidence  properly  before  the \nCommission,  and  having  an  opportunity  to  hear  the  statements  of  the  attorney  for  the \nrespondent,  I  find  that  this  matter  should  be  dismissed  without  prejudice,  for  failure  to \nprosecute pursuant to Ark. Code Ann. § 11-9-702 and Rule 099.13 of the Arkansas Workers’ \nCompensation Act. \nORDER \n Pursuant to the above statement of the case, there is no alternative but to dismiss this \nclaim in its entirety, without prejudice, for failure to prosecute. \n IT IS SO ORDERED. \n \n      ____________________________ \n       JAMES D. KENNEDY \n       ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGE","preview":"BEFORE THE ARKANSAS WORKERS’ COMPENSATION COMMISSION CLAIM NO. H101867 THURN K. APPLE, EMPLOYEE CLAIMANT WHITE RIVER AREA AGENCY ON AGING, EMPLOYER RESPONDENT AGING SERVICES FUND/ RISK MANAGEMENT SERVICES, CARRIER/TPA RESPONDENT OPINION FILED FEBRUARY 27, 2024 Hearing before Administrative Law Judge James D. Kennedy in...","fetched_at":"2026-05-19T22:57:45.833Z","links":{"html":"/opinions/alj-H101867-2024-02-27","pdf":"https://labor.arkansas.gov/wp-content/uploads/APPLE_THURN_H101867_20240227.pdf","source_publisher":"https://labor.arkansas.gov/workers-comp/awcc-opinions/administrative-law-judge-opinions/"}}