, 

October 19, 1988 

Mr. Joseph C. Gagen 

Chairman 

Texas Industrial Accident 

Board 

1st Floor, 200 E. Riverside 

Austin, Texas 78704 

Dear Mr. Gagen: 

Opinion NO. J&966 

Re: Authority of the Industrial 

Accident Board to permit Texas 

Rehabilitation Commission employees to review confidential 

worker claim files to assist 

the board (RQ-1444) 

you ask whether the Texas Industrial Accident Board may 

allow Texas Rehabilitation Commission employees to review 

workers* confidential claim files to assist the board in 

identifying injured workers who may be eligible for vocational rehabilitation services from the commission. 

Section 7 of article 8306, V.T.C.S., requires the board 

to notify the Texas Rehabilitation Commission (TRC) about 

injured workers who might benefit from vocational rehabilitation: 

Upon receipt thereof, the Board shall 

promptly analyze each notice of 

incurred by an injured employee 

injury 

covered 

under this law. If the Board concludes 

&hat vocational rehabilitation is indicated 

J 

take the necessary stews to inform the * . d emwlovee of the services and 

facilities available to him under the Texas 

. . . 

+.ehabll~.tatlon Comm ission and the Board 

lmmediatelv shall notifv said Commission of 

such case. . . . The Board shall co-operate 

with said Texas Rehabilitation Commission 

with reference to the work of said Commission 

in providing said services and facilities to 

injured employees covered under the provisions of this law. . . . (Emphasis added.) 

V.T.C.S. art. 8306, 5 7. 

p. 4918 
Mr. Joseph C. Gagen - Page 2 (JM-966) 

At present, board employees review claims to identify 

claimants who appear to be eligible for TRC services. These 

persons are notified by mail of the available services and 

encouraged to contact the commission. The Rehabilitation 

Commission is sent a copy of the letter and thereby learns 

the claimant's name, address, and file number. 

You state that both agencies would like to increase 

referrals and that review of claimants' files by TRC 

employees would permit more accurate identification of 

persons eligible for TRC's services, and would shift the 

burden of initiating contact from the claimant to the commission. The workers' claim files are, however, covered by 

the confidentiality provision of article 8307, section 9a, 

V.T.C.S., and you are concerned that this provision would 

prevent TRC employees from reviewing the claim files. 

Section 9a of article 8307, V.T.C.S., provides in part: 

(a) Information in a worker's claim file 

is confidential and may not be disclosed 

except as provided in this section. 

(b) If there is a workers' compensation 

claim for the named claimant open or pending 

before the Industrial Accident Board or . . . 

[other circumstances not relevant] at the 

time a record search or request for information is presented to the Board, the information shall be furnished as provided in this 

section. . . . The Board will furnish the 

requested information or a record check only 

to the following: 

(1) the claimant; 

(2) the attorney for the claimant: 

(3) the carrier: 

(4) the employer at the time of the 

current injury: 

(5) third-party litigants; 

(6) the State Board of Insurance: or 

(7) the Texas Department of Human 

Services. 

p. 4919 
Mr. Joseph C. Gagen - Page 3 (JM-966) 

. . . . 

(c) All information of the Industrial 

Accident Board concerning any person who has 

been finally adjudicated to be a fraudulent 

claimant . . . is not confidential . . . . 

V.T.C.S. art. 8307, 5 9a. 

This confidentiality provision was addressed in 

Attorney General Opinion RW-202 (1980). That 

considered whether 

opinion 

section 9a of article 8307, V.T.C.S., 

barred the Industrial Accident Board from 

information in workers' claim 

releasing 

files to certain federal and 

state agencies not listed under section 9a(b) as entities 

expressly authorized to receive it. The opinion stated that 

"[t]he initial provisions of section 9a clearly limit claim 

file information to certain persons and state agencies 

only . . . .'I Attorney General Opinion Rx-202 at 2 (1980). 

There were no paramount federal laws which required such 

information to be released to the federal agencies seeking 

it, nor any state laws which required its release to the 

state agencies. The opinion refused to broaden the access 

provisions of section 9a despite arguments that this construction would be consistent with the policy underlying the 

confidentiality provision. 

We conclude, based on the plain language of section 9a 

and on the reasoning and conclusion of Attorney General 

Opinion W-202, that the Industrial Accident Board may not 

permit employees of the Texas.Rehabilitation Commission to 

review workers' claim files. The board's duty to cooperate 

with the Rehabilitation Commission under section 7 of 

article 8306 can be carried out after the injured worker 

becomes a client of the commission, for example, in the provision of medical care relevant to the individual's vocational rehabilitation. &g V.T.C.S. 8306, 5 7 (association 

shall furnish treatments necessary to restore employee's 

physical capacity or to relieve pain, but not for any 

other phase of vocational rehabilitation): Hum. Res. Code 

SS 111.052(b)(l) (authority of TRC to cooperate with other 

agencies): 111.051(b)(6) (authority of TRC to contract with 

health care providers for physical restoration and other 

rehabilitation services). 

with TRC is not 

The board's duty to cooperate 

in conflict with its duty to maintain the 

confidentiality of claim files in accordance with section 9a 

of article 8307, V.T.C.S. Section 7 of article 8306, 

V.T.C.S., does not provide a basis for finding an implied 

exceptionin favor of TRC to the section 9a 

provision. 

confidentiality 

P. 4920 
Mr. Joseph C. Gagen - Page 4 (JM-966) 

SUMMARX 

Section 9a of article 8307, V.T.C.S., prohibits the Industrial Accident Board from 

disclosing confidential worker claim files to 

employees of the Texas Rehabilitation Commission. 

Very truly yo , LJ A;, ihciak 

JIM MATTOX 

Attorney General of Texas 

MARYKELLER 

First Assistant Attorney General 

mu MccREARY 

Executive Assistant Attorney General 

JUDGE ZOLLIE STEARLEY 

Special Assistant Attorney General 

RICK GILPIN 

Chairman, Opinion Committee 

Prepared by Susan L. Garrison 

Assistant Attorney General 

P. 4921