Opinion ID: 2543355
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: motion to reopen under cr 60.01 or cr 60.02.

Text: Workers' Compensation is a statutory creation. KRS 342.228 assigns the responsibility for administering workers' compensation claims to the Department of Workers' Claims. Moreover, KRS 342.270(3) directs the Department's Commissioner to promulgate administrative regulations to establish the procedures for resolving claims. The ALJ did not err by refusing to consider the claimant's motion to reopen based on CR 60.01 and CR 60.02. The Kentucky Rules of Civil Procedure govern procedure and practice in all actions of a civil nature in the Court of Justice [6] but apply to proceedings before an administrative agency only to the extent provided by statute or regulation. Although the regulations that govern workers' compensation proceedings have adopted several of the Rules of Civil Procedure, they have not adopted CR 60.01 or CR 60.02. KRS 342.125(1) states the only grounds for reopening a final workers' compensation award. The court acknowledged as much in Wheatley v. Bryant Auto Service when noting that KRS 342.125 provided a statutory remedy to correct the ALJ's mistake of law, just as could have been done under CR 60.02 had it been a civil proceeding. [7] The decision of the Court of Appeals is affirmed. All sitting. All concur.