Vince Hardaway v. Howard Industries, Inc.

WILSON, J.,

for the Court:

¶ 1. A workers’ compensation claimant cannot maintain an independent action for bad faith denial of benefits until the underlying claim for the benefits is final. Vince Hardaway and Tommie McCray filed separate lawsuits in the Jones County Circuit Court against their employer, Howard Industries (Howard), alleging bad faith refusal to investigate and pay their workers’ compensation claims for temporary partial disability (TPD). Hardaway’s lawsuit also named CorVel Enterprise Company (CorVel), Howard’s workers’ compensation claims administrator, as a defendant. Because…