Case Name: CUNNINGHAM ENTERPRISES, INC. d/b/a Campbell's Glass Window & Door Company, A Member of the BCAM Self-Insurers' Fund, Appellant v. Cary A. VOWELL, Appellee
Court: Mississippi Court of Appeals
Jurisdiction: Mississippi
Decision Date: 2006-08-08
Citations: 937 So. 2d 32
Docket Number: No. 2005-WC-01261-COA
Parties: CUNNINGHAM ENTERPRISES, INC. d/b/a Campbell's Glass Window & Door Company, A Member of the BCAM Self-Insurers' Fund, Appellant v. Cary A. VOWELL, Appellee.
Judges: Before KING, C.J., GRIFFIS and BARNES, JJ.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 937
Pages: 32–35

Head Matter:
CUNNINGHAM ENTERPRISES, INC. d/b/a Campbell's Glass Window & Door Company, A Member of the BCAM Self-Insurers' Fund, Appellant v. Cary A. VOWELL, Appellee.
No. 2005-WC-01261-COA.
Court of Appeals of Mississippi.
Aug. 8, 2006.
Michael Reed Martz, Andrew David Shull, attorneys for appellant.
Stephen L. Henning, Batesville, attorney for appellee.
Before KING, C.J., GRIFFIS and BARNES, JJ.

Opinion:
KING, C.J.,
for the Court.
¶ 1. Cunningham Enterprises, Incorporated (Cunningham) appeals the Marshall County Circuit Court's dismissal of its appeal from an interlocutory order from the Mississippi Workers' Compensation Commission (Commission). Finding that no final order has been issued, we affirm the circuit court's decision.
ANALYSIS
¶ 2. Cary Vowell filed a petition to controvert on May 27, 2003. On April 23, 2004, Vowell filed a motion with the Commission to compel medical benefits. Vo-well renewed this motion on September 13, 2004. On October 1, 2004, the administrative law judge conducted a telephonic hearing on Vowell's motion. The administrative judge law granted Vowell's motion to compel medical benefits. Cunningham appealed the administrative law judge's decision to the Full Commission. The Commission listed in its order the following situations in which it may choose to review interlocutory orders by administrative law judges:
where such review may materially advance the final resolution of the claim, avoid unnecessary delay or expense to the parties, protect a party from substantial and irreparable injury, resolve an issue of general importance in the administration of the Mississippi Workers' Compensation Act, or serve some other purpose that the Commission in the exercise of its sound discretion considers appropriate.
The Commission dismissed Cunningham's appeal stating that it did not meet any of the criteria for review of interlocutory orders by administrative law judges. Further, the Commission ordered the cause to be remanded to the administrative law judge "for such further proceedings as may be appropriate." The administrative law judge had not yet decided the following issues raised in Vowell's petition to controvert: (1) the period of temporary disability, (2) the date of maximum medical improvement, (3) the date the claimant may be able to resume employment, (4) the nature, degree and extent of the claimant's permanent disability, nor (5) the claimant's loss of wage earning capacity, if applicable.
¶ 3. Interlocutory orders by the Workers' Compensation Commission are not appealable. Bickham v. Department of Mental Health, 592 So.2d 96, 98 (Miss.1991) (See also Miss.Code Ann. § 71-3-51 (Rev.2000)). Since the Commission has issued no final order, the circuit court was without jurisdiction to hear the appeal and appropriately dismissed the case. This Court affirms the circuit court's dismissal of the appeal.
¶ 4. THE APPEAL OF THE JUDGMENT OF THE MARSHALL COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT WHICH DISMISSED THE INTERLOCUTORY APPEAL IS HEREBY AFFIRMED. ALL COSTS OF THIS APPEAL ARE ASSESSED TO APPELLANT.
LEE AND MYERS, P.JJ., SOUTHWICK, IRVING, CHANDLER, BARNES, ISHEE AND ROBERTS, JJ., CONCUR. SOUTHWICK, J., CONCURS WITH SEPARATE WRITTEN OPINION JOINED BY CHANDLER, GRIFFIS, BARNES, AND ROBERTS, JJ.