{"id":"full_commission-H306164-2026-03-27","awcc_number":"H306164","decision_date":"2026-03-27","opinion_type":"full_commission","claimant_name":"Whitney Scruggs","employer_name":"Express Services, Inc","title":"SCRUGGS VS. EXPRESS SERVICES, INC. AWCC# H306164 March 27, 2026","outcome":"dismissed","outcome_keywords":["affirmed:1","dismissed:5"],"injury_keywords":["back"],"pdf_url":"https://www.labor.arkansas.gov/wp-content/uploads/Scruggs_Whitney_H306164_20260327.pdf","source_index_url":"https://labor.arkansas.gov/workers-comp/awcc-opinions/full-commission-opinions/","filename":"Scruggs_Whitney_H306164_20260327.pdf","text_length":5786,"full_text":"BEFORE THE ARKANSAS WORKERS' COMPENSATION COMMISSION \n \n \nCLAIM NO. H306164 \n \nWHITNEY SCRUGGS, \nEMPLOYEE \n \nCLAIMANT \nEXPRESS SERVICES, INC.,  \nEMPLOYER \n \nRESPONDENT \nAIU INSURANCE COMPANY/ \nSEDGWICK CMS, INSURANCE CARRIER/TPA \nRESPONDENT \n  \n      \nOPINION FILED MARCH 27, 2026  \n \nUpon review before the FULL COMMISSION in Little Rock, Pulaski County, \nArkansas. \n \nClaimant failed to appear. \n \nRespondents represented by the HONORABLE CAROL LOCKARD \nWORLEY, Attorney at Law, Little Rock, Arkansas. \n \nDecision of Administrative Law Judge:  Affirmed. \n \n \n OPINION AND ORDER \nThe claimant, pro se, appeals an administrative law judge’s opinion \nand order filed November 26, 2025.  The administrative law judge granted \nthe respondents’ motion to dismiss without prejudice.  After reviewing the \nentire record de novo, the Full Commission affirms the administrative law \njudge’s opinion.   \nI.  HISTORY \n The record indicates that Whitney Scruggs, now age 44, became \nemployed with the respondents, Express Services, Inc., on or about \nSeptember 6, 2023.  The record contains a “WORKERS COMPENSATION \n\nSCRUGGS - H306164  2\n  \n \n \n– FIRST REPORT OF INJURY OR ILLNESS” prepared on September 21, \n2023.  The “FIRST REPORT OF INJURY OR ILLNESS” indicated that the \nclaimant sustained a work-related injury to his chest and ribs on September \n11, 2023.  The record indicates that the respondent-carrier accepted the \nclaim, and that the respondents provided a period of compensation \nbeginning September 25, 2023.   \n The claimant filed a Form AR-C, CLAIM FOR COMPENSATION on \nFebruary 13, 2024.  The ACCIDENT INFORMATION section of the Form \nAR-C indicated that the Date of Accident was September 11, 2023:  \n“CLAIMANT INJURED MULTIPLE BODY PARTS, INCLUDING W/O \nLIMITATION, BACK, TAILBONE, RIBS, TOES, FACE, FINGERS.”  The \nCLAIM INFORMATION section of the Form AR-C indicated that the claim \nwas for “initial” benefits, including Temporary Total Disability, Temporary \nPartial Disability, Permanent Partial Disability, Permanent Total Disability, \nRehabilitation, Attorney Fees, and Medical Expenses. \n The respondents filed motions to dismiss on August 20, 2024 and \nJanuary 30, 2025.   \n An administrative law judge filed an opinion on August 27, 2025.  \nThe administrative law judge determined in part: \nIt is noted that appropriate notice was provided to the claimant \nnotifying him of the hearing and that he was in fact present.  \nThe claimant again stated that he intended to pursue his \nclaim.  It is also noted that the claimant had failed to take any \n\nSCRUGGS - H306164  3\n  \n \n \naction to pursue the claim since the previous Motion to \nDismiss, although he did in fact appear at both Motion to \nDismiss hearings.   \n \n An administrative law judge entered an order on August 27, 2025 \nand took the respondents’ motions under advisement.  The administrative \nlaw judge corresponded with the claimant on September 17, 2025 and \nstated among other things, that the claimant should submit a Prehearing \nQuestionnaire to the Commission.  The claimant did not appear at a hearing \nheld on November 18, 2025.  The administrative law judge filed an opinion \non November 26, 2025.  The administrative law judge ordered, “Pursuant to \nthe above statement of the case, documents entered into the record, and \nstatements by the Attorney for the Respondents, there is no alternative but \nto grant the Motion to Dismiss without prejudice pursuant to 11 C.A.R. \n110(d) of the Arkansas Workers’ Compensation Commission and A.C.A. \n§11-9-702(a)(4).”         \n The claimant appeals to the Full Commission.   \nII.  ADJUDICATION \n Commission Rule 099.13, now codified at 11 CAR §25-110, provides \nin pertinent part: \n(d)  Upon meritorious application to the commission from \neither party in an action pending before the commission \nrequesting that the claim be dismissed for want of \nprosecution, the Commission may, upon reasonable notice to \nthe parties, enter an order dismissing the claim for want of \nprosecution.   \n\nSCRUGGS - H306164  4\n  \n \n \n \n The purpose of Commission Rule 099.13 is to permit the claimant to \nresist dismissal of the claim and to show, if he can, why the application for \ndismissal is without merit.  Dura Craft Boats, Inc. v. Daugherty, 247 Ark. \n125, 444 S.W.2d 562 (Ark. 1969). \n The Full Commission finds in the present matter that the \nrespondents’ motion to dismiss is meritorious.  The claimant states on \nappeal that he did not receive notice of the November 18, 2025 hearing, \nasserting that he was incarcerated from September 11, 2025 through \nJanuary 13, 2026.  The claimant presents no corroborating proof of his \nincarceration during this period.  Moreover, the claimant previously filed a \nForm AR-C, CLAIM FOR COMPENSATION on February 13, 2024.  The \nevidence does not demonstrate that the claimant made a bona fide request \nfor a hearing within six (6) months of the filing of the claim for \ncompensation, as is required by Ark. Code Ann. §11-9-702(a)(4)(Repl. \n2012).  Nor has the claimant yet taken any substantive action or made a \ngood faith effort to present medical records or other probative evidence to \nthe Commission throughout the length of the claim.  The Commission finds \nthat there is indeed a “want of prosecution” in the present matter.   \n The Full Commission therefore affirms the administrative law judge’s \norder dismissing the claim without prejudice, in accordance with 11 CAR \n25-110(d) and Ark. Code Ann. §11-9-702(a)(4)(Repl. 2012).    \n\nSCRUGGS - H306164  5\n  \n \n \n IT IS SO ORDERED. \n \n    ___________________________________ \n    SCOTTY DALE DOUTHIT, Chairman \n \n    ___________________________________ \n    M. SCOTT WILLHITE, Commissioner \n \n    ___________________________________ \n    MICHAEL R. MAYTON, Commissioner","preview":"BEFORE THE ARKANSAS WORKERS' COMPENSATION COMMISSION CLAIM NO. H306164 WHITNEY SCRUGGS, EMPLOYEE CLAIMANT EXPRESS SERVICES, INC., EMPLOYER RESPONDENT AIU INSURANCE COMPANY/ SEDGWICK CMS, INSURANCE CARRIER/TPA RESPONDENT OPINION FILED MARCH 27, 2026","fetched_at":"2026-05-19T22:29:43.813Z","links":{"html":"/opinions/full_commission-H306164-2026-03-27","pdf":"https://www.labor.arkansas.gov/wp-content/uploads/Scruggs_Whitney_H306164_20260327.pdf","source_publisher":"https://labor.arkansas.gov/workers-comp/awcc-opinions/full-commission-opinions/"}}