Whittaker v. Wright

WINTERSHEIMER, Justice.

This appeal is from an opinion of the Court of Appeals reversing a decision by the Workers’ Compensation Board which dismissed an appeal filed by Wright as nonfinal.

The question presented is whether the doctrine of relation forward should apply in a workers’ compensation case when an appeal is prematurely filed prior to an order becoming final.

On December 17,1996, the Chief Administrative Law Judge rendered an opinion awarding Wright temporary total and permanent partial disability benefits, as well as medical expenses. Three days later, on December 20, Wright’s…