Aetna Casualty & Surety Co. v. Houghton

This is a workers’ compensation ease. Claimant filed a claim for benefits naming appellee Mickey Chase Enterprises as the employer and appellant (Aetna) as the carrier. Several months earlier, Aetna had filed a notice of denial, in which it asserted that “Aetna coverage for the Employer expired 5/31/90 and was reinstated 8/17/90. Mickey Chas.e Enterprises was uninsured from 5/31/90 through 8/17/90 which includes the date of accident: 8/16/90.” It is undisputed that, although it had notice of the time and place of both the pretrial conference and the merits hearing, no representative of Aetna…