{"id":"alj-H206545-2024-04-18","awcc_number":"H206545","decision_date":"2024-04-18","opinion_type":"alj","claimant_name":"Jamarsae Baker","employer_name":null,"title":"BAKER VS. LEXICON HOLDING CO.AWCC# H206545April 18, 2024","outcome":"dismissed","outcome_keywords":["dismissed:2","denied:2"],"injury_keywords":[],"pdf_url":"https://labor.arkansas.gov/wp-content/uploads/Baker_Jamarsae_H206545_20240418.pdf","source_index_url":"https://labor.arkansas.gov/workers-comp/awcc-opinions/administrative-law-judge-opinions/","filename":"Baker_Jamarsae_H206545_20240418.pdf","text_length":9197,"full_text":"BEFORE THE ARKANSAS WORKERS’ COMPENSATION COMMISSION \nWCC NO. H206545 \n \nJAMARSAE BAKER, \nEMPLOYEE                                                                                                              CLAIMANT \n \nLEXICON HOLDING CO., \nEMPLOYER                                                                                                         RESPONDENT  \n \nACIG INS. CO., \nCARRIER                                                                                                             RESPONDENT \n \nRISK MANAGEMENT RESOURCES, \nTHIRD PARTY ADMINISTRATOR                                                                RESPONDENT \n \n \nOPINION FILED APRIL 18, 2024 \n \nHearing conducted on Wednesday, April 3,  2024, before the Arkansas Workers’ Compensation \nCommission  (the  Commission),  Administrative  Law  Judge (ALJ) Steven  Porch,  in Little  Rock, \nPulaski County, Arkansas. \n \nThe Claimant, Mr. Jamarsae Baker, pro se, of North Little Rock, Arkansas, did not appear in person \nat the hearing.  \n \nThe Respondents were represented by the Honorable Guy Wade, Little Rock, Arkansas. \n \n \nBACKGROUND \n \n  This  matter  comes  before  the  Commission  on  a  Motion  to  Dismiss  by  Respondents.  A \nhearing was conducted on April 3, 2024, in Little Rock, Arkansas. No testimony was taken in the \ncase. Claimant, who according to Commission records is pro se, failed to appear at the hearing. \nThe Claimant worked for the Respondent/Employer as  a laborer. The Claimant reported \nhis injury  to  the Respondent/Employer  the  same  day. Admitted  into  evidence  was  Commission \nExhibit  1,  pleadings,  correspondence,  and  Certified  U.S.  Mail return  receipts,  consisting  of \nfourteen  pages. I  have  also  blue-backed the Form  AR-1, the Form  AR-2, and Respondents’ \ncounsel’s September 20, 2023, email. \n\nBAKER, AWCC No. H206545 \n \n2 \n \nThe record reflects the following procedural history: On September 12, 2022, a Form AR-\n1  was  filed  in  this  case,  reflecting  that  Claimant  purportedly  sustained multiple  fractures  to  his \nright  foot  on  August  29,  2022. He  allegedly  fractured  his  right  foot  while  moving  range  pipe \nsaddles when one top heavy saddle fell onto his right foot. The Claimant reported his injury to the \nRespondent/Employer  the  same  day. Respondents  on  September  14,  2022,  filed  a  Form  AR-2, \nrepresenting that the claim was under investigation. The Respondents hired Attorney Guy Wade \nto  represent  them on  September  6,  2023. The  Claimant has  never  filed a Form  AR-C since  the \nalleged injury date or demanded a hearing. \nHowever,  on September  11,  2023, Attorney Marie  A.  Crawford, located  in  Sherwood, \nArkansas, entered  an  appearance on behalf of the Claimant’s minor daughter, with  the  initials \nJ.S.B., to receive temporary total disability benefits pursuant to Ark. Code Ann. § 11-9-812 (a)(1) \n(Repl.   2012).  The   Claimant   was   incarcerated   at   the   time   of   this   filing.   During   email \ncorrespondence between the Commission, Attorney Crawford, and Respondent’s counsel, it was \ndiscovered  that  the Respondents  paid temporary total disability benefits  to  the  Claimant  from \nAugust  30,  2022,  through  March  6,  2023,  at  which  time  he  was  released  to  full  duty. The \nRespondents held the position that the Claimant was paid everything he was entitled to and was \nowed  no  more  benefits. On  October  10,  2023,  Attorney  Crawford  filed  a  Motion  for  Leave  to \nWithdraw as Counsel. The Motion was granted on the same day. \nThe Respondents next filed  a Motion to Dismiss on December  5,  2023, requesting  this \nclaim be dismissed for lack of prosecution. The Claimant was sent notice of the Motion to Dismiss \nfrom the Commission on December 19, 2023, to 1909 Highway 161, Apartment 7, North Little \nRock,  Arkansas  72117,  Claimant’s  last  known  address. After  sending  the  first  notice,  the \nCommission soon learned of a second address for the Claimant at 702 East 49\nth\n Street, North Little \n\nBAKER, AWCC No. H206545 \n \n3 \n \nRock, Arkansas  72117.  A  separate  notice  of  the  Motion  to  Dismiss  was  sent  to  that  address on \nJanuary 26, 2024. The Claimant did not respond to either notice in writing. Thus, in accordance \nwith applicable Arkansas law, the Claimant was  mailed due and proper legal notice of both the \nRespondents’ Motion  to Dismiss  and the  hearing  notice  at  his current  address  of  record  via  the \nUnited States Postal Service (USPS), First Class Certified Mail, Return Receipt Requested, and \nregular First-Class Mail. The certified notices were returned to the Commission unclaimed but the \nregular First-Class mail notices were not returned. The hearing took place on April 3, 2024. The \nClaimant did not show up to the hearing. \nFINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW \n \nTherefore,  after  a  thorough  consideration  of  the  facts,  issues,  the  applicable  law,  and  other \nrelevant matters  of  record,  including Commission Exhibit  1, pleadings,  correspondence,  and \nCertified U.S. Mail return receipts, consisting of fourteen pages, the blue-backed AR-1, AR-2, and \nRespondents’ counsel’s September 20, 2023, email, I hereby make the following findings: \n \n1. The Commission has jurisdiction over this claim. \n \n2. The Claimant and Respondents both had notice of the April 3, 2024, hearing. \n \n3. The Claimant has not filed an initial or additional claim for benefits in this matter.  \n \n4. The Respondents’ Motion to Dismiss should be denied.     \n \nDISCUSSION \n Consistent  with both Ark.  Code  Ann. §  11-9-702(a)(4) and  AWCC  Rule 099.13, the \nCommission scheduled and conducted a hearing on the Respondents’ Motion to Dismiss. I do find \nby the preponderance of the evidence that no claim exists when considering Commission’s Exhibit \n1, which contains pleadings, correspondence, and Certified U.S. Mail return receipts, and the blue-\n\nBAKER, AWCC No. H206545 \n \n4 \n \nbacked Forms AR-1, AR-2, and Respondents’ counsel’s September 20, 2023, email, all of which \nare contained in the record. The Claimant has not filed a Form AR-C or submitted a letter claiming \ninitial or additional benefits with the Commission since his alleged injury date of August 29, 2022. \nAn AR-C is the means for filing a formal complaint with the Commission. However, based on an \nemail by Respondent’s counsel on September 20, 2023, which has been blue-backed and made a \npart  of  this  record,  initial  benefits  have  been  paid  to  the  Claimant.  Despite  this,  nothing  in  the \nCommissions’ file show that a formal claim ever existed, not even for additional benefits. Even if \nI  decided  to recognize  that  other  means  exist  to  file  a formal claim  other  than  a Form  AR-C, \nutilizing Cook v. Southwestern Bell Telephone Company, 21 Ark. App. 29, 727 S.W.2d 862 (1987), \nno correspondence fits this court’s holding. The Cook court held that an attorney’s correspondence \nnotifying the Commission that he has been employed to assist a claimant in connection with unpaid \nbenefits is sufficient to state a claim for additional compensation where the correspondence also \nlists the Claimant’s name, the employer’s name and the AWCC  file  number. My  review  of  the \nevidence  discloses  no  such  correspondence that  meets  the  requirements  for  a  formal  claim for \nadditional  benefits in  this  matter. The Cook case  is  a  pre-1993 case,  before  the  Workers’ \nCompensation laws were updated, and has been superseded by statute when it comes to additional \ncompensation. Claims for additional compensation must be stated specifically per Ark. Code Ann. \n§ 11-9-702(c) (Repl. 2012), which reads: \nA claim for additional compensation must specifically state that it \nis  a  claim  for  additional  compensation.  Documents  which  do  not \nspecifically request  additional  benefits  shall  not  be  considered  a \nclaim for additional compensation. \n \n(Emphasis added) See White Cty Judge v. Menser, 2020 Ark. 140, 597 S.W.3d 640 (2020). \n \n While  Forms  AR-1  and  AR-2  were  filed,  and  now  blue  backed  and  made  a  part  of  this \nrecord, they were still insufficient to instigate a claim for additional benefits. Neither document \n\nBAKER, AWCC No. H206545 \n \n5 \n \nspecifically request additional benefits, which is required by the statute. Therefore, I find by the \npreponderance  of  the  evidence  that  no  formal  claim  has  been  filed  in  this  matter.  And  since no \nclaim has been filed, there is no claim subject to dismissal per Respondents’ motion. Thus, \nRespondents’ Motion to Dismiss must fail and is hereby denied. \n \nCONCLUSION \n Based  on  the Findings  of Fact  and Conclusions  of Law set forth above, Respondents’ \nMotion to Dismiss is denied. \n \n      IT IS SO ORDERED.  \n \n \n                                                                                               ______________________________ \n                                                                                               Steven Porch \n                                                                                               Administrative Law Judge","preview":"BEFORE THE ARKANSAS WORKERS’ COMPENSATION COMMISSION WCC NO. H206545 JAMARSAE BAKER, EMPLOYEE CLAIMANT LEXICON HOLDING CO., EMPLOYER RESPONDENT ACIG INS. CO., CARRIER RESPONDENT RISK MANAGEMENT RESOURCES, THIRD PARTY ADMINISTRATOR RESPONDENT OPINION FILED APRIL 18, 2024 Hearing conducted on Wednesday, April 3, 2024, be...","fetched_at":"2026-05-19T22:55:34.096Z","links":{"html":"/opinions/alj-H206545-2024-04-18","pdf":"https://labor.arkansas.gov/wp-content/uploads/Baker_Jamarsae_H206545_20240418.pdf","source_publisher":"https://labor.arkansas.gov/workers-comp/awcc-opinions/administrative-law-judge-opinions/"}}