COURT OF APPEALS OF VIRGINIA 

Present: Judges Willis, Fitzpatrick and Overton 

Argued at Salem, Virginia 

WOODTECH, INC. AND 

 TRAVELERS INSURANCE COMPANY 

 MEMORANDUM OPINION* BY 

v. Record No. 2129-95-3 JUDGE NELSON T. OVERTON 

 MAY 14, 1996 

JEFFREY DOUGLAS COLLINS 

 FROM THE VIRGINIA WORKERS' COMPENSATION COMMISSION 

 Jim H. Guynn, Jr. (Guynn & Britt, P.C., on 

brief), for appellants. 

 Susan E. F. Henderson for appellee. 

 

 *Pursuant to Code § 17-116.010 this opinion is not 

designated for publication. 

 Woodtech, Inc. and the Travelers Insurance Company 

(collectively "Woodtech") appeal from an award of benefits by the 

Workers' Compensation Commission to the claimant, Jeffrey Douglas 

Collins. Woodtech contends that no accident occurred on the date 

in Collins' original claim for benefits and that therefore 

benefits should not have been awarded. Furthermore, Woodtech 

argues, the application was not amended within two years of the 

actual accident, barring the claim under the statute of 

limitations in Code § 65.2-601. Because we agree with Woodtech 

on both counts, we reverse the commission's decision and dismiss 

the cause. 

 Collins initially filed a claim on April 18, 1994, for an 

accident arising out of and in the course of his employment on 
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March 18, 1993. A hearing was scheduled for July 20, 1994, at 

which time Collins was granted a nonsuit. Collins reopened the 

claim by filing a second application for hearing on February 3, 

1995. 

 At the hearing on March 30, 1995, Collins testified that he 

was injured on March 18, 1993, as stated in his application. His 

testimony established, however, that his injury actually was 

caused by an incident on March 10, 1993. On this testimony the 

deputy commissioner found that no compensable accident occurred 

on March 18, 1993, and denied benefits. Collins was also timebarred under Code § 65.2-601 from filing a claim based on the 

March 10 accident, two years having passed from that date. 

 The full commission reversed the deputy commissioner. While 

the commission agreed that no compensable accident occurred on 

March 18, the commission nevertheless allowed the claim to 

proceed on the basis that the claimant's error in specific date 

was insignificant. 

 "The right to compensation under [the Workers' Compensation 

Act] shall be forever barred, unless a claim be filed with the 

Commission within two years after the accident." Code 

§ 65.2-601. This filing requirement is jurisdictional, serving 

more than a merely notice function. "The jurisdictional nature 

of a filing under Code § 65.1-87 [now § 65.2-601] is not affected 

by any notice that may previously have been given to the 

employer." Garcia v. Mantech Int'l Corp., 2 Va. App. 749, 755, 
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347 S.E.2d 548, 551 (1986); see Leonard v. Arnold, 218 Va. 210, 

215, 237 S.E.2d 97, 100 (1977). Claims have been barred under 

this section when the wrong employer was named, Garcia, 2 Va. 

App. at 749, 347 S.E.2d at 548, and when an additional injury 

from the same accident was not stated in the application. 

Shawley v. Shea-Ball Constr. Co., 216 Va. 442, 219 S.E.2d 849 

(1975). 

 The commission found that no compensable injury occurred on 

March 18, 1993, the date in the application, and the record 

supports this finding. Due to claimant's nonsuit and delay in 

refiling, two years passed between the time of the accident and 

the attempt to amend the application to conform to the correct 

date. The statute clearly bars such an amendment at that time, 

and the commission erred in disregarding this provision. The 

decision of the commission is reversed. 

 Reversed and dismissed.