Court Filings

The Court of Appeals affirmed the superior court’s judgment upholding the Board of Industrial Insurance Appeals and the Department of Labor and Industries (DLI). The court held that the one-year limitation in RCW 51.32.240(1)(a) applies to benefits paid to injured workers and does not bar DLI from recouping overpayments made to health service providers like Office Careers. The court also affirmed partial summary judgment for DLI terminating Office Careers’ provider number, finding Office Careers failed to raise a genuine factual dispute and that DLI’s audits and use of available records were lawful.

The Court of Appeals granted the Department of Labor and Industries’ motion for reconsideration, withdrew its prior opinion, and issued a new published opinion. The court held that Cache Valley Electric violated WAC 296-45-255(7) by making expired rubber protective blankets available at a worksite, and therefore reinstated the Department’s citation and penalty for that item. The court also upheld the Board’s serious-violation finding and penalty assessment for an employee operating a chainsaw within the minimum approach distance of an energized line, concluding the Board did not abuse its discretion in weighing the high probability of harm given how close the chainsaw came to the line. The result: the judgment was reversed in part (vacated Board finding on blankets) and affirmed in part (chainsaw violation).