Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District / Oct 21, 2025
John W. Tippit, Appellant, v. State of Missouri, Second Injury Fund, Respondent.
John Tippit appealed the Labor and Industrial Relations Commission's decision to dismiss his application for review as untimely, which stemmed from an Administrative Law Judge's dismissal of his workers' compensation claim against the Second Injury Fund for failure to prosecute. The appellate court reversed the Commission's finding that Tippit's application was untimely. It held that the Division of Workers' Compensation failed to prove it properly mailed the Order of Dismissal in compliance with statutory notice requirements, thus the 20-day period for filing an application for review never began to run. The case was remanded to the Commission to determine whether Tippit had good cause for failing to respond to the show-cause notice and for failing to prosecute his claim.