Linda Baldwin v. Zurich American Insurance Co., 03-14-00457-CV

Baldwin filed workers’ compensation disputes after administrative adverse decisions: DWC hearing officer denied a March 1, 2006 compensable injury and limited the August 20, 2007 accepted claim as to several diagnoses.
The DWC Appeals Panel issued notice the hearing officer’s decision became final on September 4, 2012; by statute the mailing date is deemed five days later, making October 25, 2012 the deadline to file for judicial review.
Baldwin filed an initial district-court petition on October 5, 2012 asserting tort/bad-faith claims against Zurich but did not expressly seek judicial review of the Division’s decision in that pleading; that suit was dismissed by summary judgment on January 3, 2013 (no appeal).
On April 18, 2013 Baldwin filed a second petition that expressly sought review of the Division’s determinations; Zurich moved to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction under Tex. Lab. Code §410.252(a) because this petition was filed after the 45-day period.
The trial court granted Zurich’s plea to the jurisdiction and dismissed Baldwin’s remaining claims; Zurich appealed and urges the appellate court to affirm the dismissal.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the trial court had subject-matter jurisdiction where Baldwin filed for judicial review after the §410.252(a) 45-day deadline	Baldwin contends her October 5 petition satisfied the deadline (or otherwise preserves review) and/or the plea improperly attacks merits	Zurich argues Baldwin never filed a timely petition requesting judicial review within 45 days and a late filing deprives the trial court of jurisdiction; plea to the jurisdiction is proper	The court held the 45-day deadline is jurisdictional; Baldwin did not timely file a petition seeking review, so dismissal for lack of jurisdiction was proper

Tex. Dep’t of Parks & Wildlife v. Miranda, 133 S.W.3d 217 (Tex. 2004) (standard of review for jurisdictional pleas)
Davis v. Am. Cas. Co. of Reading, Pa., 408 S.W.3d 1 (Tex. App.—Amarillo 2012) (holding §410.252 deadline is jurisdictional)
Fire & Cas. Ins. Co. of Conn. v. Miranda, 293 S.W.3d 620 (Tex. App.—San Antonio 2009) (treating the 45-day filing rule as jurisdictional)
Tex. Mun. League Intergovernmental Risk Pool v. Burns, 209 S.W.3d 806 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth 2006) (same)
LeBlanc v. Everest Nat'l Ins. Co., 98 S.W.3d 786 (Tex. App.—Corpus Christi 2003) (same)
Johnson v. United Parcel Serv., 36 S.W.3d 918 (Tex. App.—Dallas 2001) (same)
Argonaut Sw. Ins. Co. v. Walker, 64 S.W.3d 654 (Tex. App.—Texarkana 2001) (same)
Cervantes v. Tyson Food, Inc., 130 S.W.3d 152 (Tex. App.—El Paso 2003) (same)
Sunbeam Envtl. Servs., Inc. v. Texas Workers' Comp. Ins. Facility, 71 S.W.3d 846 (Tex. App. 2002) (procedural waiver principles regarding jurisdictional challenges)