Before Justices Gibbons, Douglas, and Saitta. Opinion by Justice Saitta.
In this appeal from a district court order denying a petition for judicial review in a workers’ compensation action, the Court examined the meaning of “off work” under NRS 616C.390(5). Under NRS 616C.390(5), a claimant either has to be “off work” or has to receive a “permanent partial disability award” to reopen a claim more than one year after the closing date of the claim. Appellant sustained workplace injuries when he fell from a ladder and Appellant’s physician did not clear Appellant to return to work until two days later. Appellant filed a worker’s compensation claim with his employer and received an award that was not a “permanent partial disability award.” After experiencing subsequent back pain, appellant sought to reopen his claim two years after the claim closed. An appeals officer refused to reopen Appellant’s claim because the appeals officer determined that Appellant was never “off work” under NRS 616C.390(5). The appeals officer interpreted “off work” to mean that an employee has to miss at least five days of work as the result of a work injury. The Court first held that failing to apply to reopen a claim within the limitations period set forth in NRS 616C.390(5) acts as a jurisdictional bar to reopening the claim. The Court then held that an employee does not have to miss a certain minimum amount of time from work to be “off work” under NRS 616C.390(5) - an employee only has to lose time from work as the result of a work injury to be “off work” under the statute. Reversed and remanded. (Chris Stanko, Summer Clerk in the Reno office of McDonald Carano Wilson.)
