{"id":"alj-H105783-2023-07-26","awcc_number":"H105783","decision_date":"2023-07-26","opinion_type":"alj","claimant_name":"Karel Ortega","employer_name":"Arkansas Public Defender Comms’n","title":"ORTEGA VS. ARKANSAS PUBLIC DEFENDER COMMS’N AWCC# H105783 JULY 26, 2023","outcome":"dismissed","outcome_keywords":["dismissed:3","granted:1"],"injury_keywords":["back"],"pdf_url":"https://labor.arkansas.gov/wp-content/uploads/ORTEGA_KAREL_H105783_20230726.pdf","source_index_url":"https://labor.arkansas.gov/workers-comp/awcc-opinions/administrative-law-judge-opinions/","filename":"ORTEGA_KAREL_H105783_20230726.pdf","text_length":6650,"full_text":"BEFORE THE ARKANSAS WORKERS’ COMPENSATION COMMISSION \nCLAIM NO. H105783 \n \nKAREL ORTEGA, \nEMPLOYEE                                                                                                              CLAIMANT \n \nARKANSAS PUBLIC DEFENDER COMMS’N, \nEMPLOYER                                                                                                         RESPONDENT  \n \nSTATE OF ARKANSAS/ \nPUBLIC EMPLOYEE CLAIMS DIVISION \nINSURANCE CARRIER/TPA                                                                     RESPONDENT \n \n \n \nOPINION AND ORDER FILED JULY 26, 2023 \nHOLDING RESPONDENTS’ MOTION TO DISMISS WITHOUT PREJUDICE IN \nABEYANCE FOR 30 DAYS \n \nHearing  conducted  on  Tuesday,  July  25,  2023,  before  the  Arkansas  Workers’  Compensation \nCommission (the Commission), Administrative Law Judge  (ALJ) Mike Pickens, in Little Rock, \nPulaski County, Arkansas. \n \nThe  claimant,  Ms.  Karel  Ortega,  pro  se,  of  Maumelle,  Pulaski  County,  Arkansas,  appeared  in \nperson at the hearing.  \n \nThe respondents were represented by the Honorable Charles McLemore, Public Employee Claims \nDivision, Little Rock, Pulaski County, Arkansas. \n \n \nSTATEMENT OF THE CASE \n \n  A  hearing  was  conducted  on  Tuesday,  July  25,  2023,  to  determine  whether  this  claim \nshould be dismissed for lack of prosecution pursuant to Ark. Code Ann. § 11-9-702(a)(4) (2023 \nLexis  Replacement)  and  Commission  Rule  099.13  (2023  Lexis  Repl.).  The  respondents  filed  a \nmotion  to  dismiss  with  the  Commission  on  May  4,  2023,  requesting  this  claim  be  dismissed \nwithout prejudice for lack of prosecution.  \n\nKarel Ortega, AWCC No. H105783  \n \n2 \n \n           In accordance with applicable Arkansas law, the claimant was mailed due and proper legal \nnotice of both the respondents’ motion to dismiss as well as a copy of the hearing notice at her \ncurrent addresses of record via the United States Postal Service (USPS), First Class Certified Mail,  \nReturn  Receipt  Requested,  which  she  received  on  May  8,  2023.  (Commission  Exhibit  1).  The \nclaimant appeared at the hearing pro se.  \n          The  claimant  filed  a  Form  AR-C  on  August  2,  2021,  alleging  she  had  sustained  a  work-\nrelated lower back injury on April 22, 2021. The respondents controverted the claim in its entirety, \nso  they  have  paid  no  medical  or  indemnity  benefits.  The  claimant  had  been  represented  in  this \nmatter by attorney Gregory R. Giles; however, by a letter he filed with the Commission on January \n3, 2023, Mr.  Giles made a motion requesting to  be relieved as the claimant’s counsel. The Full \nCommission granted Attorney Giles’s letter motion by order filed January 18, 2023.  \n          In  response  to  the  respondents’  motion  to  dismiss  this  claim  for  lack  of  prosecution  the \nclaimant testified she had not requested a hearing since the Full Commission relieved Mr. Giles as \nher attorney because she had  been occupied taking care of her mother, who is ill. The claimant \napparently continued to work following her alleged April 22, 2021, lower back injury. She testified \nshe quit her job earlier this summer in order to take care of her mother. The claimant testified she \nbelieved the last time she had received any treatment for her alleged April 22, 2021, work-related \ninjury  was  some  time  in  the  winter  of  2022,  when  she  received  an  injection.  It  was  her \nunderstanding she could not receive any further injections. She testified she had been paying for \nher  medical  treatment  for  her  alleged  April  22,  2021,  lower  back  injury  through  her  health \ninsurance, but she had incurred co-pays and other related expenses and paid those out of her own \npocket. \n\nKarel Ortega, AWCC No. H105783  \n \n3 \n \n The record herein consists of the hearing transcript as well as any and all exhibits contained \ntherein  and  attached  thereto  and,  as  always, the  Commission’s  entire  file  in  this  matter  by \nreference. \n \nDISCUSSION \n Consistent with Ark. Code Ann. § 11-9-702(a)(4), as well as our court of appeals’ ruling \nin Dillard vs. Benton County Sheriff’s Office, 87 Ark. App. 379, 192 S.W.3d 287 (Ark. App. 2004), \nthe Commission scheduled and conducted a hearing on the respondents’ motion to dismiss. Rather \nthan  recite  a  detailed  analysis  of  the  record,  suffice  it  to  say  the  preponderance  of  the  evidence \nintroduced at the hearing and contained in the record conclusively demonstrates the claimant has \nneither requested a hearing nor has he taken any action to pursue claim as of the hearing date. \n Therefore, after a thorough consideration of the facts, issues, the applicable law, and other \nrelevant matters of record, and as I advised the parties on the record at the hearing, I hereby make \nthe following: \nFINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW \n \n 1. The Commission has jurisdiction of this claim. \n \n 2. The ALJ will hold in abeyance a decision on the respondents’ subject motion to \n                  dismiss without prejudice for a period of 30 days, or until Thursday, August 24, \n                  2023, in order to give the claimant time to find an attorney to represent her, or to \n                  decide whether she intends to proceed with this matter pro se (representing herself), \n                  and to request a hearing on the compensability of her claim. \n \n     3.         If the claimant fails and/or refuses to take the actions set forth in Paragraph 2 above, \n                and does not request, in writing, a hearing before the Commission on or before \n                Thursday, August 24, 2023, the respondents’ motion to dismiss without prejudice \n                for lack of prosecution filed May 4, 2023, will be granted, without the necessity of \n                either the respondents filing another motion, and without the necessity of the \n                Commission holding another hearing on the subject motion. \n \n        If they have not already done so, the respondents shall pay the court reporter’s invoice within \n\nKarel Ortega, AWCC No. H105783  \n \n4 \n \n \n twenty (20) days of the filing of this opinion and order. \n \n     IT IS SO ORDERED.  \n \n \n                                                                                               ______________________________ \n                                                                                               Mike Pickens \n                                                                                               Administrative Law Judge \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \nMP/mp","preview":"BEFORE THE ARKANSAS WORKERS’ COMPENSATION COMMISSION CLAIM NO. H105783 KAREL ORTEGA, EMPLOYEE CLAIMANT ARKANSAS PUBLIC DEFENDER COMMS’N, EMPLOYER RESPONDENT STATE OF ARKANSAS/ PUBLIC EMPLOYEE CLAIMS DIVISION INSURANCE CARRIER/TPA RESPONDENT OPINION AND ORDER FILED JULY 26, 2023 HOLDING RESPONDENTS’ MOTION TO DISMISS WI...","fetched_at":"2026-05-19T23:05:43.860Z","links":{"html":"/opinions/alj-H105783-2023-07-26","pdf":"https://labor.arkansas.gov/wp-content/uploads/ORTEGA_KAREL_H105783_20230726.pdf","source_publisher":"https://labor.arkansas.gov/workers-comp/awcc-opinions/administrative-law-judge-opinions/"}}