Opinion ID: 2021722
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: the workers' compensation court has authority to enter default judgments

Text: As a statutorily created court, the Workers' Compensation Court is a tribunal of limited and special jurisdiction and has only such authority as has been conferred on it by statute. [3] Swift Beef contends that there is no provision in the Nebraska Workers' Compensation Act granting the compensation court authority to enter a default judgment. Swift Beef argues that the Workers' Compensation Act does not speak to default judgments anywhere. [4] Cruz-Morales contends that § 48-162.03 gives the court the authority to grant default judgments. Section 48-162.03(1) provides in relevant part: The Nebraska Workers' Compensation Court or any judge thereof may rule upon any motion addressed to the court by any party to a suit or proceeding, including, but not limited to, motions for summary judgment or other motions for judgment on the pleadings but not including motions for new trial or motions for reconsideration. From the plain language of § 48-162.03(1), the Workers' Compensation Court has authority to rule on motions for default judgment. The statute gives the court authority to rule upon any motion [5] except motions for new trial or motions for reconsideration. A motion for default judgment is not a motion for new trial or a motion for reconsideration. In deciding the compensation court had authority to enter default judgments, the review panel did not rely on the any motion language in § 48-162.03(1). Instead, the panel concluded that Cruz-Morales' motion for default judgment was a motion for judgment on the pleadings. But Swift Beef argues, and Cruz-Morales agrees in her brief, that the motion for default judgment was not a motion for judgment on the pleadings. Swift Beef further argues that even if the motion for default judgment is equivalent to a motion for summary judgment, it would not have been proper for the court to grant summary judgment because genuine issues of fact remained. We need not reach the issue of whether a motion for default judgment is a motion for judgment on the pleadings or a motion for summary judgment. The court's authority under § 48-162.03(1) is not limited to such motions. Instead, the statute's language grants the court broad authority to rule on any motion except motions for new trial and motions for reconsideration. Therefore, we conclude that the Workers' Compensation Court has statutory authority to enter default judgments.