Smith v. CompFirst/L.C. Industries

MAXWELL, J„

for the Court:

¶ 1. While the doctrine of res judicata applies to Mississippi workers’ compensation claims, there is a statutory exception. Under Mississippi Code Annotated section 71-3-53 (Rev.2011), the Mississippi Workers’' Compensation Commission has discretionary authority to “terminate, continue, reinstate, increase, or decrease such compensation, or award compensation” in an otherwise-final compensation case. But it can only do so if there is either “a change in conditions or ... a mistake in a detei’-mination of fact.” Miss.Code Ann. § 71-3-53. This discretionary authority…