General Information Regarding Your Workers’ Compensation Appeal at the Labor and Industrial Relations Appeals Board
Your workers’ compensation case has been appealed to the Labor and Industrial Relations Appeals Board (“Board”) from a decision of the Director of Labor and Industrial Relations (“Director”). The following statements of general information do not supersede or supplement any state law or administrative rule or regulation. They are not a substitute for independent research, analysis of the law, or legal advice.
My case has been appealed to the Board. What happens now?
Your case will be reviewed or looked at by the Board. The Board is located at 830 Punchbowl Street, Room 404, Honolulu, Hawaii. The Board’s hours are 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The Board’s telephone number is (808) 586-8600.
The Board is a three-member board. Currently, all three Board members are licensed attorneys of the State of Hawaii. One of the Board members will be assigned to oversee or manage your case. If your case goes to trial, the Board will hear the case and make a decision.
Once an appeal is taken, the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations (“Department”) sends your case file to the Board. The Board will notify you to attend an initial conference. You should file your Initial Conference Statement as required by the Board rules.
What is the initial conference?
The purpose of the initial conference is to identify the issues that both sides want the Board to decide and to answer any questions that anyone may have regarding the appeal. If you appealed the case, you must tell the Board what part of the Director’s decision you do not agree with or why you are unhappy with the Director’s decision. The Board will not and cannot decide matters that were not considered or addressed by the Director. Also, be prepared to inform the Board of any potential or special concerns that the Board needs to be aware of while handling your case.
At the initial conference, you may be asked to stipulate the file from the Department as part of the Board’s record on appeal. This means that the Board wants to know if you would agree that all of the information that was presented to the Department be made part of the Board’s file or records, and be considered by the Board in reaching its decision. This would include all the medical reports and letters sent to the Department, and other information about how your injury happened.
You will be given several important dates and deadlines at the initial conference. The trial date is the date of the trial or hearing in your case. The settlement conference date is the date when you attend a meeting to discuss whether your case can be worked out (or settled) without having to go to trial. Generally, there are strengths and weaknesses in each case, regardless of which side you are on, and often it is in the best interest of everyone to settle the case without having to expend the time and costs of a trial. To make the settlement conference more meaningful and productive, the Board expects that the parties contact each other prior to the settlement conference to discuss settlement and identify or narrow their disputes before coming to the settlement conference.
The deadlines that you will be given are called “discovery deadlines”. They include an unnamed witness identification deadline, medical reports deadline, live witness identification deadline, and discovery cut-off deadline.
What is discovery? What do the different deadlines mean?
After the initial conference, the parties may proceed to the “discovery” or the information gathering stage of the case. You have the responsibility of gathering or discovering information to support your position on the issues on appeal. Because appeals to the Board are reviewed on a de novo (meaning “anew” or “afresh”) basis, parties are allowed to present new evidence in addition to what was already presented to the Department.
You may submit medical reports or opinions by doctors, deposition transcripts, and also non-medical documents or matters that you think will support your case and help the Board reach a just and fair decision. You may also use witnesses to support your case. There are deadlines for the submission of the different types of information or evidence that you want to use to support your case.
- 1. Unnamed witness identification deadline: On or before this date, you must file with the Board and identify doctors or other persons not previously specifically identified in your Initial Conference Statement. For example: Kimo Pascua (my co-worker), or Dr. Mary Sato (my doctor).
- 2. Medical reports deadline: On or before this date you must file with the Board all medical reports and medical records from health care providers that you want the Board to consider.
- 3. Live witness identification deadline: On or before this date, you must file with the Board and identify the person(s) listed in #1 above or in your Initial Conference Statement who will testify or speak in your favor at trial.
- 4. Discovery cut-off deadline: On or before this date, you must file with the Board all non-medical reports or documents.
If the parties cannot agree on a matter involving the initial conference or a discovery issue, a hearing or meeting by telephone may be held by the Board. If the parties are unable to agree, the Board may enter an order or have a hearing on the matter.
You must send a copy of any report or document you file with the Board to the opposing party(ies) in the case. Information submitted after the deadlines may be excluded from the file and not be considered by the Board in reaching its decision.
Do I need an attorney?
Although there is no requirement that you hire an attorney to represent you in your workers’ compensation case, you are strongly encouraged to get an attorney to represent you. Many injured workers, and almost all insurance carriers, as well as the State and County, are often represented by attorneys. The proceedings before the Board are more formal than the proceedings at the Director’s level. The LAB Rules must be followed by all persons appearing before the Board. Not following the Rules can be harmful to your appeal. These rules are provided at www.hawaii.gov/labor/hlirab/adminrules.shtml or a hardcopy may be purchased for $2.00. The Board does not provide legal advice to any of the parties.
What can I expect if my case goes to trial?
Trial will be held in the Board’s hearings room on Oahu by either the Board or an appointed hearings officer. You are required to be at the trial in Honolulu. At trial, you and your witnesses have the opportunity to present oral testimony to help your case. You may also present oral arguments to the Board at this time.
Before trial begins, the presiding officer may ask you if you would like to submit a post-trial position statement or memorandum, after the hearing is completed. Parties use the position statement or memorandum to summarize the evidence and their arguments in writing. Generally, the Board gives the parties 30 days to submit simultaneous post-trial statements or memoranda. You may ask for more or less time. You must send the opposing party(ies) a copy of the post-trial position statement or memorandum that you file with the Board.
The trial proceedings will be tape-recorded. Generally, the party who appealed the case goes first to present his or her case. Presenting your case may include testifying on your own behalf or calling your witnesses and asking them questions. This is called “direct examination”. The opposing party has the opportunity to also ask questions of your witnesses. This is called “cross-examination”. You may also cross-examine the opposing party’s witnesses, if any. Once everyone is finished with the presentation of testimony, you have the opportunity to present oral arguments based on the evidence submitted during the discovery period and on the oral testimony. You may choose to save the arguments for your post-trial position statement or memorandum.
When the trial is completed, the record is closed. After the record is closed, the Board will not accept additional evidence.
The Board will make a decision on your case after considering the written evidence submitted during the discovery period, any testimony provided at trial, any oral arguments made at trial, any post-trial position statements or memoranda filed after the hearing, and the record at the Board. The Board’s decision will be in writing and will be sent to you.
Hearings officers who may be assigned to hear your case will issue a proposed decision. If you disagree with the proposed decision, you may file a written statement why you disagree. If you want to present oral arguments to the Board on your exceptions, you may file a written request to the Board. The exceptions and request for oral argument, if any, must be filed with the Board within ten working days after the filing of the proposed decision. Any opposing party may file a responsive memorandum to the written exceptions within ten working days from the filing of the exceptions. The Board will consider the parties’ respective memoranda and oral arguments, if any, and issue its decision.
What if I don’t agree with the Board’s decision?
If you do not agree with the Board’s decision, you may appeal the decision to the Intermediate Court of Appeals of the State of Hawaii. An appeal must be filed with the Board within thirty days of the filing of the Board’s decision.
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