Opinion ID: 2199933
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Board May Manage Its Own Docket

Text: We have not been asked by the federal court to resolve and do not address any issues relating to the internal procedures of the Board. We respond to the question as certified that the Board may issue enforceable and appealable orders under the circumstances indicated in this opinion. The Board requests that it have the discretion to hear any particular case. We do not address any specific issue, but note that in general the Board, or any agency, has the authority to schedule its own docket, and discretion as to the order, timing, and content of decisions. There may well be practical considerations that cause the Board in a given circumstance either to defer or consolidate a decision or to condition interim relief on appropriate safeguards to protect against potential reversal. However, as a general proposition, we would assume that the first appealable order with respect to a given injury would resolve the basic issues relating to compensability for any future issues. If so, this may mitigate the risk of excessive payouts followed by unrecoverable claims generated by reversals at some subsequent date. If significant unfairness results, the legislature may seek to deal with it. Under the current statute, we respond to the certified question as indicated above.