NOTICE: NOT FOR OFFICIAL PUBLICATION. 

UNDER ARIZONA RULE OF THE SUPREME COURT 111(c), THIS DECISION IS NOT PRECEDENTIAL 

AND MAY BE CITED ONLY AS AUTHORIZED BY RULE.

IN THE 

ARIZONA COURT OF APPEALS

DIVISION ONE

DIANA DODSON, Petitioner,

v.

THE INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION OF ARIZONA, Respondent, 

ST. JOSEPH’S HOSPITAL & MEDICAL CENTER, Respondent Employer,

DIGNITY HEALTH/SEDGWICK, Respondent Carrier. 

No. 1 CA-IC 14-0087 

Special Action - Industrial Commission 

ICA Claim No. 20140-690358 

Carrier Claim No. 201485138 

Anthony F. Halas, Administrative Law Judge 

AFFIRMED 

COUNSEL 

Jack Levine, P.C., Phoenix 

By Jack Levine 

Counsel for Petitioner 

Industrial Commission of Arizona, Phoenix 

By Andrew F. Wade 

Counsel for Respondent 
DODSON v. ST. JOSEPH’S

Decision of the Court 

2

Jardine, Baker, Hickman & Houston, PLLC, Phoenix 

By K. Casey Kurth 

Counsel for Respondents Employer and Carrier

MEMORANDUM DECISION 

Judge Samuel A. Thumma delivered the decision of the Court, in which 

Presiding Judge Kenton D. Jones and Judge Peter B. Swann joined. 

T H U M M A, Judge: 

¶1 This is a special action review of an Industrial Commission of 

Arizona (ICA) award and decision upon review by an administrative law 

judge (ALJ) dismissing a request for hearing. Claimant Diana Dodson 

alleges the dismissal was an abuse of discretion and an improper 

consequence for her failure to appear and provide any evidence supporting 

her claim. Because Dodson has shown no error, the award is affirmed. 

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY 

¶2 Dodson claims she sustained a mental injury on December 1, 

2008 while employed by respondent employer St. Joseph’s Hospital & 

Medical Center. Dodson’s workers’ compensation claim, filed in 2014, was 

denied by the respondent carrier Dignity Health/Sedgwick. Dodson timely 

challenged that denial, and in mid-June 2014, the ALJ set a hearing for 

September 25, 2014. Dodson was self-represented during much of the time 

the matter was pending with the ICA. At Dignity’s request, the ALJ reset

the hearing to September 24, 2014 (the day before the original September 25 

2014 setting) in a written notice dated June 24, 2014 that was timely served 

on Dodson.

¶3 Dodson and Dignity then listed witnesses and undertook 

various other prehearing activities. Although Dignity filed its records into 

evidence as required, Dodson did not. See Arizona Administrative Code 

(A.A.C.) R20-5-155 (2015).1 Dignity raised affirmative defenses challenging 

the timeliness of Dodson’s claim. See Ariz. Rev. Stat. (A.R.S.) § 23-1061 (one 

year limitations period for workers’ compensation claims); A.R.S. § 23-908 

 

1 Absent material revisions after the relevant dates, statutes and rules cited 

refer to the current version unless otherwise indicated. 
DODSON v. ST. JOSEPH’S

Decision of the Court 

3

(claimant must “forthwith report the accident and the injury resulting 

therefrom to the employer”). In a detailed July 18, 2014 letter to Dodson, the 

ALJ reminded Dodson of, among other things, the September 24, 2014 

hearing date, the affirmative defenses raised by Dignity and that Dodson 

had the burden of presenting evidence to show her claim was timely and 

referenced resources that Dodson could access to better understand the 

hearing process.

¶4 Dodson failed to appear for the September 24, 2014 hearing. 

At that hearing, the ALJ granted Dignity’s motion to dismiss. In a written 

decision entered that same day, the ALJ noted Dodson failed to appear at 

the properly-noticed hearing, did not provide any explanation or good 

cause for that failure and, accordingly, found Dodson abandoned her 

hearing request and dismissed that request. The next day (September 25, 

2014), Dodson had an attorney file a notice of appearance on her behalf and 

timely requested administrative review, stating Dodson’s counsel: 

was not representing [Dodson] at the time the 

hearing date in this matter was rescheduled and 

was not advised, nor did he notice the change of 

date of the hearing when he reviewed 

[Dodson’s] file after agreeing to represent her. 

After considering the request and reconsidering the “file, records and all 

matters hereunto appertaining,” the ALJ affirmed the award. This court has 

jurisdiction over Dodson’s timely request for review pursuant to A.R.S. §§ 

12-120.21(A)(2), 23-951(A), and Arizona Rules of Procedure for Special 

Actions 10.

DISCUSSION 

¶5 Workers’ compensation proceedings are conducted so as to 

“achieve substantial justice.” A.R.S. § 23-941(F). A claimant must personally 

appear at ICA hearings, unless excused from doing so by the ALJ. See

A.A.C. R20-5-149.A. If a party fails to comply with applicable rules or 

orders, the ALJ has the discretion to, among other things, dismiss a request 

for hearing or preclude the introduction of evidence. See A.A.C. R20-5-

157.A. Although a party may be relieved of such consequences for good 

cause shown, A.A.C. R20-5-157.B, this court will affirm consequences 

imposed by an ALJ absent an abuse of discretion, see Nolden v. Industrial 

Commission, 127 Ariz. 501, 503-04 (App. 1980). 
DODSON v. ST. JOSEPH’S

Decision of the Court 

4

¶6 As the ALJ recognized, deciding that Dodson abandoned her 

request for hearing required the examination of various factors, including 

whether: (1) there was a pattern of failing to cooperate; (2) Dodson acted 

with due diligence; (3) evidence has been presented to support Dodson’s 

case; (4) the explanation for the failure to comply is reasonable; (5) the 

opposing party has suffered prejudice; and (6) the failure to comply 

imposes an unwarranted administrative burden. See Brown v. Indus. 

Comm’n, 154 Ariz. 252, 254 (App. 1987); King v. Indus. Comm’n, 160 Ariz. 161, 

163 (App. 1989). As applied, the ALJ found: 

I have weighed the factors that are relevant and 

material [including the Brown factors], and I 

determine and conclude that applicant 

Dodson’s unexcused failure to attend the 

hearing and provide testimony, or to provide 

any other evidence in support of her Request for 

Hearing, or to provide any evidence in 

opposition to the affirmative defenses raised . . . 

, evidences an abandonment of her Request for 

Hearing. 

The ALJ also found Dodson did not show good cause sufficient to relieve 

her of that consequence. 

¶7 The record shows Dodson failed to provide evidence to 

support her industrial injury claim or to refute the affirmative defenses 

raised by Dignity, notwithstanding the requirement that she do so. 

Dodson’s failures also could support a conclusion that she did not act with 

due diligence, and she did not provide any reason for her failures. By 

contrast, Dignity timely filed evidence (the only evidence presented to the 

ALJ), consisting of Dodson’s employment and medical records. Although 

Dodson claims she sustained a mental injury on December 1, 2008, the

records filed by Dignity show significant mental health issues beginning in 

2005. Dodson’s employment records document repeated difficulties with 

her job performance as a dental assistant and two requests in 2007 for leave 

under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA). The documents also indicate 

Dodson resigned from her employment on January 2, 2008 – nearly a year 

before the alleged industrial injury – stating “I ... will not return to work 

from my FMLA due to Dr. advisement.” Dodson also waited more than six 

years after her employment ended to file her claim, long after the one-year 

limitations period. This delay undoubtedly would prejudice the ability to 

investigate her claim. Finally, although Dodson’s failures may not have 

imposed an unwarranted administrative burden, requiring that another 
DODSON v. ST. JOSEPH’S

Decision of the Court 

5

hearing be set may have done so, particularly given the evidentiary and 

procedural flaws in her claim. For all of these reasons, Dodson has not 

shown that the ALJ abused his discretion by finding that she had 

abandoned her request for hearing. 

CONCLUSION 

¶8 Because Dodson has shown no error, the award is affirmed.