The Iowa Supreme Court ruled Thursday that a lower appeals court and a trial court both wrongly permitted untimely evidence to be submitted in a workers compensation claim brought by an injured Serta/National Bedding Co. LLC employee.
The state high court vacated a Court of Appeals decision in a case brought by Lorri Hagen, who was injured at work in February 2017 when a 350-pound cart rolled over her foot.
In 2019, after a physician determined she had reached maximum medical improvement, Ms. Hagen filed an arbitration petition seeking workers comp benefits from Serta and its insurer, Safety National Casualty Corp.
During the arbitration proceedings, Ms. Hagen missed a deadline to submit evidence certifying her expert witnesses, and Serta argued it would be prejudiced if the late evidence was permitted.
A deputy workers comp commissioner ruled the exhibits should be excluded, and the workers comp commissioner agreed.
A trial court overturned that determination, ruling the late evidence submittal might not be prejudicial. The Court of Appeals affirmed that decision.
In vacating the lower court decisions, the state Supreme Court wrote that the workers comp commissioner has the “ultimate responsibility for deciding cases in an expeditious and timely manner,” and the courts should “not infringe upon a decision that is well within his prerogative.”
The high court remanded the case to the workers comp commissioner for further proceedings.