Arnold & Placek, P.C. won summary judgment, ending a plaintiff’s lawsuit for judicial review of a Division of Workers’ Compensation’s decision. The plaintiff claimed to be a beneficiary entitled to death benefits as a common-law spouse, but she never filed a claim for workers’ compensation benefits until a year after the filing deadline. The plaintiff and her team of lawyers asserted a wide variety of legal and equitable theories in the judicial review suit, including that “good cause” excused her late filing because they “had to” litigate probate and wrongful-death claims before proceeding with a workers’ compensation claim.
Arnold & Placek, P.C. filed a motion for summary judgment because none of the plaintiff’s theories satisfied the standard for good cause, which exists only when a beneficiary has exercised the degree of diligence that an ordinarily prudent person would have exercised under similar circumstances. Arnold & Placek also asserted that the claimant’s representation by counsel defeated the reliance element of her estoppel claim. The district court agreed and dismissed the plaintiff’s suit. Texas Mutual was represented by Scott Placek and Matthew Foerster of Arnold & Placek. Matthew Foerster argued the summary judgment motion for the carrier.
