Court Opinion

ID: 9585765
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 23:03:42.531412+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:24:14.551482
License: Public Domain

Quillian, Presiding Judge,
dissenting.
Code Ann. § 114-709 (Ga. L. 1920, p. 191; 1931, pp. 7, 43; 1937, pp. 230, 233; 1937, pp. 528, 534; 1943, pp. 167-169; 1968, pp. 3, 7; 1972, pp. 149, 150; 1973, pp..232, 244) provides that change in condition awards of the board may be retroactive "except as hereinafter provided.” In the same paragraph the statute provides "If an employee’s response evidences disagreement with the contentions of the employer or insurer, the board shall notify the parties of the disagreement and schedule the matter for hearing as provided by law and the compensation previously awarded or agreed upon shall continue until terminated or suspended by award or order of the board.”
In my opinion, this language clearly provides that the claimant is entitled to compensation until suspended by the board. The Act provides that the award may be retroactive "except as hereinafter provided.” I feel that the above quoted portion of the statute which relates to when compensation shall be terminated where the employee has filed a response to the employer’s application for a change in condition was not intended to come within the retroactive provisions of the Act.
I am authorized to state that Presiding Judge Deen and Judges Shulman and Birdsong join in this dissent.