AI Generated Opinion Summaries

This summary was computer-generated without any editorial revision. It is not official, has not been checked for accuracy, and is NOT citable.

Facts

• On August 17, 2002, Kevin Schultz, a Pojoaque Tribal Police Officer, drowned while saving a twelve-year-old boy from the Rio Grande. Schultz was off-duty, participating in a church group outing. Following his death, his widow, Cheryl Schultz, filed for workers' compensation benefits but did so after the statute of limitations had expired. She argued that the police department's conduct led her to file late, asserting that the department had assured her they would handle everything related to her claim (paras 1, 5).

Procedural History

• Workers’ Compensation Judge: Held that Cheryl Schultz’s complaint was not timely filed.
• Court of Appeals: Affirmed the WCJ's decision, agreeing that the complaint was untimely filed.
• Supreme Court of New Mexico: Reversed and remanded to the Court of Appeals for further proceedings consistent with its opinion (para 3).

Parties' Submissions

• Worker-Petitioner: Argued that the police department's conduct caused the late filing of the workers' compensation claim, asserting that the department's assurances led her to believe that her claim would be handled by them (para 2).
• Employer-Insurer-Respondents: [Not applicable or not found]

Legal Issues

• Whether the failure to file a workers' compensation claim within the statutory period, due to the employer's conduct, deprives a person of the right to compensation under the Workers’ Compensation Act (para 4).
• Whether Cheryl Schultz's workers' compensation complaint was filed within a reasonable time after the statute of limitations expired, considering the employer's conduct (paras 38-39).

Disposition

• The Supreme Court of New Mexico reversed the Court of Appeals' decision and remanded the case for further proceedings, specifically to determine whether Schultz died within the course and scope of his employment (para 54).

Reasons

• The Supreme Court found that the police department's conduct could reasonably lead Cheryl Schultz to believe that her workers' compensation claim would be filed on her behalf, thus implicating Section 52-1-36 of the Workers’ Compensation Act. This section provides relief if an employer's conduct, in whole or in part, causes a delay in filing a claim. The Court determined that Cheryl Schultz filed her complaint within a reasonable time after realizing the police department would not file the claim. The Court also clarified that Section 52-1-36 should not be confined by the limits of tolling, allowing for a more flexible interpretation that focuses on the reasonableness of the time taken to file after the statute of limitations has expired, based on the employer's conduct (paras 13-14, 37-38, 40-49).