Parker v. Churchland Automotive Service, 042221 OCR01, VA00001347295

• Case Date: April 22, 2021
• Court: Virginia

HAROLD PARKER v. CHURCHLAND AUTOMOTIVE SERVICE ACCIDENT FUND GENERAL INS CO, Insurance Carrier ACCIDENT FUND GENERAL INS CO, Claim Administrator Jurisdiction Claim No. VA00001347295 Claim Administrator File No. 300000261113 Virginia In The Workers’ Compensation Commission April 22, 2021           Date of Injury June 24, 2017           Philip J. Geib, Esq. For the Claimant.           Amanda T. Belliveau, Esq. For the Defendants.          OPINION BY THE COMMISSION          Review before Commissioner Newman, Commissioner Rapaport, and Chief Deputy Commissioner Szablewicz in Richmond, Virginia.          This case comes before the Commission on the claimant’s April 19, 2021 Request for Review of the Amended Opinion issued by Deputy Commissioner Jenkins on March 17, 2021. In this Opinion, we consider the defendants’ Motion to Dismiss that Request for Review on the grounds that it was not timely filed. We agree.          Rule 3.1 of the Rules of the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission provides in part, “A request for review of a decision, order or award of the Commission shall be filed by a party in writing with the Clerk of the Commission within 30 days of the date of such decision, order or award.” See also Va. Code § 65.2-705. The 30-day period established by this Rule is jurisdictional and the Commission has no jurisdiction to review a case if the request for review is not filed within that time period, except to correct for fraud or mistake. Markham v. City of Norfolk Fire & Paramedical, 78 O.W.C. 189 (1999). This maxim applies whether a Request for Review is twenty-one days late - see Smith v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., VWC File No. 200-44-22 (Nov. 20, 2005) - or just one day late - see Quarles v. Virginia Commonwealth University, VWC File No. 198-89-06 (Oct. 27, 2005).          In the present case, the Amended Opinion for which the claimant seeks a Review was issued on March 17, 2021. The Request for Review is dated April 19, 2021 and was WebFiled with the Commission on April 19, 2021. Virginia Code § 65.2-101 provides the following definition of “filed:”

‘Filed’ means hand delivered to the

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