Ward v. Fayetteville City Hospital

I concur in the majority opinion. The only real reason the appellant gives for faulting the provision of the Workers’ Compensation Law giving finality to a joint petition settlement is “without giving the claimant the opportunity to have a ‘hammer’ over the Second Injury Fund, it can delay and have a potential veto on any possible settlement.” Whatever that means, I see nothing in the Act to indicate that a claimant has a right to pursue a claim for an injury after the Commission has approved a joint petition settlement for that injury. Ark. Code Ann. § 11-9-805 (1987) clearly leaves the…