CASE NO. 69-CRD-4-81Workers’ Compensation Commission
NOVEMBER 19, 1982
The Claimant-Appellant was represented by Foster Young, Esq.
This Petition for Review from the April 1, 1981 Decision of the Commissioner At Large, Acting for the Fourth District, was argued on October 29, 1982 before a Compensation Review Division Panel consisting of Commissioners Gerald Kolinsky, Rhoda Loeb and Frank Verrilli.
Gerald Kolinsky, Commissioner, Rhoda Loeb, Commissioner, Frank Verrilli, Commissioner
Ruling On Appellee’s Motion To Dismiss The Appeal
The Claimant-Appellant received a Finding and Award on April 6, 1981 from the Commissioner-At-Large, Acting for the Fourth Compensation District.
The Claimant-Appellant, acting pro se, appealed said Commissioner’s decision in a Petition for Review, dated April 23, 1981 and received at the office of the Compensation Commissioner for the Fourth District on April 27, 1981.
On May 15, 1981, a Motion to Dismiss the appeal was received at the office of the Compensation Review Division from the Appellee alleging that said appeal had not been taken within ten (10) days after the entry of the Award as mandated by Section 31-301, Connecticut General Statutes. The claimant had been represented by counsel at the formal hearing of her case before the Commissioner below, but her counsel did not file an appeal on her behalf.
The thrust of the Claimant-Appellant’s argument is that she did not receive notice of the Commissioner’s decision from her attorney until April 17, 1981 and that she exercised her right of appeal as a pro se litigant as soon as possible after her attorney advised her of the decision.
This question has come before this tribunal in the past, and we have held that the ten (10) day appeals period was not adhered to in this case. See Merto vs. Mason-Dixon Transportation Co., 1 Conn. Workers’ Comp. Rev. Op. 7, Ilewicz vs. State of Connecticut, 1 Conn. Workers’ Comp. Rev. Op. 5.
The Respondent-Appellees Motion to Dismiss is granted.