Court Opinion

ID: 9404664
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-06-23 19:04:20.372575+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:20:16.112810
License: Public Domain

NOT FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST'S HAWAI‘I REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER

                                             Electronically Filed
                                             Intermediate Court of Appeals
                                             CAAP-XX-XXXXXXX
                                             23-JUN-2023
                                             08:03 AM
                                             Dkt. 43 SO

                        NO. CAAP-XX-XXXXXXX

               IN THE INTERMEDIATE COURT OF APPEALS
                      OF THE STATE OF HAWAI‘I

           REGINA A. CODA, Claimant-Appellant-Appellant,
                                  v.
               STATE OF HAWAI‘I, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH,
                     Employer-Appellee-Appellee,
                                 and
          STATE OF HAWAI‘I, DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN RESOURCES
            DEVELOPMENT, WORKERS' COMPENSATION DIVISION,
                 Insurance Carrier-Appellee-Appellee

  APPEAL FROM THE LABOR AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS APPEALS BOARD
          (CASE NO. AB 2019-274 and DCD NO. 2-99-40374)

                     SUMMARY DISPOSITION ORDER
   (By:   Leonard, Presiding Judge, Nakasone and McCullen, JJ.)

           Self-represented Claimant-Appellant-Appellant Regina
A. Coda (Coda) appeals from a February 3, 2022 Decision and
Order (Decision and Order) by the Labor and Industrial Relations
Appeals Board (LIRAB), finding that Coda was entitled to have a
workers' compensation claim reopened for a work injury sustained
on March 18, 1999; and a March 28, 2022 Order Denying Motion for
   NOT FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST'S HAWAI‘I REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER

Reconsideration (Order Denying Reconsideration), denying Coda's
request to reconsider the Decision and Order. 1
            On appeal, Coda appears to contend that the February
3, 2022 Decision and Order was based on "erroneous statements,"
that it "did not address all the facts in question at the
[t]rial," and that it contained a false statement that Coda
withdrew her appeal in 2001. 2
             Coda's Opening Brief does not comply with HRAP Rule
28.   There are no points of error, no record references, and
minimal discernible arguments.        There are no transcripts of the
February 17, 2022 trial or the March 17, 2022 reconsideration
hearing that led to the orders from which Coda appeals.             See
HRAP Rule 10(b)(1)(A) (requiring a transcript request "[w]hen an
appellant desires to raise any point on appeal that requires
consideration of the oral proceedings before the court appealed
from . . . ."); Bettencourt v. Bettencourt, 80 Hawai‘i 225, 230,
909 P.2d 553, 558 (1995) ("The burden is upon appellant in an
appeal to show error by reference to matters in the record, and
he or she has the responsibility of providing an adequate
transcript." (brackets, citation, and internal quotation marks
omitted)).
            Despite non-compliance with the HRAP, we endeavor to
afford "litigants the opportunity to have their cases heard on

      1     Coda's Notice of Appeal (Notice) does not identify or attach the
orders appealed from. See Hawai‘i Rules of Appellate Procedure (HRAP) Rule
3(c)(2) (requiring the notice of appeal to "designate the judgment, order, or
part thereof . . . appealed from."). Coda's Opening Brief challenges the
Decision and Order in her Opening Brief, Coda filed the Notice within 30 days
of the Order Denying Reconsideration, and we construe the appeal as
encompassing the same.

      2     In her concluding "[r]equest" on the last page, Coda requests
"[r]ecertification and modification of Boards [sic] reverse decision [sic]
dated November 7, 2019." This request does not make sense. The February 3,
2022 LIRAB Decision and Order ruled in Coda's favor, reversing the November
7, 2019 Director's decision that was adverse to Coda.

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   NOT FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST'S HAWAI‘I REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER

the merits, where possible."        Marvin v. Pflueger, 127 Hawai‘i
490, 496, 280 P.3d 88, 94 (2012) (cleaned up).           To promote
access to justice, we interpret pleadings prepared by self-
represented litigants liberally and attempt to afford them
appellate review even though they fail to comply with court
rules.    See Erum v. Llego, 147 Hawai‘i 368, 380-81, 465 P.3d 815,
827-28 (2020).
            Upon careful review of the record and the brief
submitted by Coda, 3 we affirm.
            The procedural history of this appeal is set forth in
the Decision and Order.       The issue decided by LIRAB in the
February 3, 2022 Decision and Order was whether the Director of
Labor and Industrial Relations (Director) erred in denying
Coda's April 20, 2019 request to reopen her claim for her 1999
work injury.     Following a trial on February 17, 2021, LIRAB
reversed the Director's November 7, 2019 decision, and concluded
that the Director erred in denying Coda's request to reopen her
1999 workers' compensation claim.         The Decision and Order also
noted that Coda "raise[d] arguments either unrelated to the
issue on appeal or related to matters outside of Chapter 386,
[Hawaii Revised Statutes,]" and that the LIRAB's "authority is
limited to the issue on appeal."
            On February 16, 2022, Coda sought reconsideration of
the Decision and Order, arguing that the decision "should date
back to the onset of injury [on August 9, 1993] as supported by
the evidence in the medical records."         On March 17, 2022, a
hearing was held, 4 and on March 28, 2022, the LIRAB filed its
Order Denying Reconsideration, finding that Coda "presented

      3     None of the parties to the LIRAB proceeding below filed an
Answering Brief.

      4     The March 17, 2022 hearing is not in the record on appeal.
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arguments which were in part outside of the Board's
jurisdiction."     Coda timely appealed.
            From what we can discern, Coda appears to contend that
the Decision and Order contains "erroneous statements" such as
the withdrawal of her prior appeal, and that it "did not address
all the facts in question at the [t]rial."          Coda, however, does
not specify what statements were "erroneous"; does not provide
discernible arguments supporting these contentions; nor is it
apparent why the Decision and Order had to address these issues. 5
We do not address Coda's contentions.          See HRAP Rule 28(b)(7)
("Points not argued may be deemed waived."); see Haw. Ventures,
LLC v. Otaka, Inc., 114 Hawai‘i 438, 478, 164 P.3d 696, 736
(2007) (stating that "an appellate court is not obliged to
address matters for which the appellant has failed to present
discernible arguments.").
            For the foregoing reasons, we affirm the February 3,
2022 Decision and Order and the March 28, 2022 Order Denying
Motion for Reconsideration, both filed by the Labor and
Industrial Relations Appeals Board.
            DATED:   Honolulu, Hawai‘i, June 23, 2023.
On the briefs:
                                          /s/ Katherine G. Leonard
Regina A. Coda,                           Presiding Judge
Self-Represented Claimant-
Appellant.                                /s/ Karen T. Nakasone
                                          Associate Judge

                                          /s/ Sonja M.P. McCullen
                                          Associate Judge

      5     The Decision and Order described the "sole issue determined on
this appeal" before the LIRAB as "whether the Director erred in denying
[Coda]'s April 20, 2019 (filed on July 23, 2019) request to reopen her claim
for a work injury sustained on March 18, 1999."

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