S-2152               _______________________________________________

                                         SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL NO. 4190

                        _______________________________________________

State of Washington                              49th Legislature                              1985 Regular Session

By Senate Committee on Commerce and Labor (originally sponsored by Senators Talmadge, Newhouse, Deccio, Cantu, Warnke and Vognild; by Joint Select Committee on Workers' Compensation request)

Read first time 3/5/85.

AN ACT Relating to administrative procedures of the board of industrial insurance appeals; amending RCW 51.52.095; and adding a new section to chapter 51.52 RCW.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1.  A new section is added to chapter 51.52 RCW to read as follows:

          The board shall publish and index its significant decisions and make them available to the public at reasonable cost.

        Sec. 2.  Section 51.52.095, chapter 23, Laws of 1961 as last amended by section 7, chapter 109, Laws of 1982 and RCW 51.52.095 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) The board, upon request of the worker, beneficiary, or employer, or upon its own motion, may direct all parties interested in an appeal, together with their attorneys, if any, to appear before it, a member of the board, or an authorized industrial appeals judge, for a conference for the purpose of determining the feasibility of settlement, the simplification of issues of law and fact, the necessity of amendments to the notice of appeal or other pleadings, the possibility of obtaining admissions of fact and of documents which will avoid unnecessary proof, the limitation of the number of expert witnesses, and such other matters as may aid in the disposition of the appeal.  Such conference may be held prior to the hearing, or it may be held during the hearing, at the discretion of the board member or industrial appeals judge conducting the same, in which case the hearing will be recessed for such conference.  Following the conference, the board member or industrial appeals judge conducting the same, shall state on the record the results of such conference, and the parties present or their representatives shall state their concurrence on the record.  Such agreement as stated on the record shall control the subsequent course of the proceedings, unless modified at a subsequent hearing to prevent manifest injustice.  If agreement concerning final disposition of the appeal is reached by the parties present at the conference, or by the employer and worker or beneficiary, the board may enter a final decision and order in accordance therewith, providing the board finds such agreement is in conformity with the law and the facts.

(2) In order to carry out subsection (1) of this section, the board shall develop expertise to mediate disputes informally.  Where possible, industrial appeals judges with a demonstrated history of successfully resolving disputes or who have received training in dispute resolution techniques shall be appointed to perform mediation functions.  No industrial appeals judge who mediates in a particular appeal may participate in writing the proposed decision and order in the appeal.  This section shall not operate to prevent the board from developing additional methods and procedures to encourage resolution of disputes by agreement or otherwise making efforts to reduce adjudication time.