Court declines review in comp cases where workers failed to document job search

The Texas Supreme Court denied two petitions to review allegations that the Texas Division of Workers’ Compensation is improperly awarding supplemental income benefits to some injured workers who didn’t provide proof they’ve been looking for jobs.

“Both raise significant statutory interpretation questions; both implicate (albeit in different ways) the proper role of administrative agencies as compared to the courts; and both involve issues that this court may well need to address in a future case,” reads the decision in Fund Insurance Co. of America and Texas Cotton Ginner’s Trust v. Texas Division of Workers’ Compensation, filed Friday. “But the most important similarity is that neither petition offers the court a suitable vehicle to engage in such review now,” the ruling states, suggesting that the SIB rules could be subject to further review.

The Division of Workers’ Compensation said in court filings that it sometimes allows injured workers seeking supplemental income benefits to attest under penalty of perjury that they’ve applied for a job. The agency said this furthers the goal of the program by encouraging workers to apply for all jobs and not just those that require completing a paper or electronic application.

Accident Fund Insurance Co. of America and the Texas Cotton Ginner’s Trust both said the law explicitly requires those applying for SIB benefits to provide copies of applications they submitted.

Both petitions allege that the division adopted rules that left out the phrase “submitted by the recipient.” Accident Fund said in a facial challenge to the rules that the omission allows the division to award benefits without appropriate documentation.

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