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Stefanski v. Industrial Claim Appeals Office of the State of Colorado9/8/2005
attempt to close the case and shift the burden to claimant to initiate and bear the cost of another DIME.
II.
Claimant also asserts that his motion to strike was the equivalent of an objection. We agree.
Any pleading that adequately notifies the employer that the claimant does not accept the FAL constitutes substantial, if not actual, compliance with the statutory obligation to provide written objection. See EZ Bldg. Components Mfg., LLC v. Indus. Claim Appeals Office, 74 P.3d 516 (Colo. App. 2003)(concept of substantial compliance has been applied to various notice requirements in workers' compensation proceedings).
Here, employer filed the second FAL on November 20, 2001. Claimant mailed a motion to strike that admission on December 20, 2001. Claimant acknowledged that the FAL as to his foot injury was supported by a physician's medical report, but requested an extension of thirty days from the date of an order in which to file a notice and proposal and application for hearing.
We conclude that claimant's motion to strike, while somewhat ambiguous, constituted a timely objection to the FAL.
III.
We reject claimant's contention that the ALJ failed to resolve the factual issues regarding his attainment of MMI as to his left-hand symptoms.
Here, the ALJ found that claimant's job duties required repetitive hand motion. We agree with the Panel that this finding is consistent with the ALJ's conclusion that claimant failed to prove that his left-hand problems were causally related to the March 1998 back injury. Therefore, because the ALJ's findings are supported by the DIME report, the ALJ did not err in failing to compensate the left-hand injury in this claim.
Accordingly, we need not address the other assertions concerning claimant's left-hand symptoms.
The order is set aside, and the case remanded to the Panel to reinstate the ALJ's order and to conduct such further proceedings as are provided by law.
JUDGE VOGT and JUDGE CRISWELL concur.
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