- Time limits (appeal) (diligence of applicant) (personal matters)
- Time limits (appeal) (length of delay)
The issue on this appeal was whether the worker's request to extend the time limit to file a notice of objection with the Board should be granted. The worker had sustained a traumatic left thumb amputation at the MP joint. The Case Manager decision concluded that the worker was not entitled to receive loss of earnings (LOE) benefits beyond July 27, 2016. The worker filed the notice of objection on October 5, 2021, approximately four years and eight months after the expiry of the six-month statutory time limit for objecting to the decision.
The appeal was allowed.The Vice-Chair found that the justice of the case weighed in favour of granting a time extension. While the worker may not have formed an intent to object within the time limit, there was a reasonable explanation for the delay in objecting, that being the combined effect of a number of factors: the worker's youth; limited education and inexperience with workers' compensation matters; having suffered a serious traumatic injury that involved a lengthy period of treatment and recovery, as well as a likely permanent impairment; a likely intellectual disability that would affect his ability to understand and meet the time limit to object; and lack of access to legal advice and assistance in the remote area of the province where he lived.Furthermore, the delay in objecting of approximately four years and eight months was not considered so lengthy as to render the case too stale to reasonably adjudicate, and also had not prejudiced the employer, who had chosen not to participate in the appeal. The worker also had an arguable case on the merits for his objection.