Kingery v. Department of Labor & Industries

We are asked to decide whether the superior court had the authority to vacate a Department *706of Labor and Industries’ 1983 final order denying a widow’s application for survivor benefits, when the widow reapplies in 1991 with new expert testimony tending to show industrial injuries rather than a heart attack caused her husband’s 1983 death. We hold that the 1991 application was barred by res judicata, and the superior court was without authority to vacate the 1983 judgment under CR 60(b) or as an independent equitable action under CR 60(c).

In August 1983, Willard Kingery was found dead under…