COLLATERAL ESTOPPEL
Department order in another claim
Where the worker filed both an application to reopen a prior claim for aggravation of condition and a new claim, the Department's denial of the application to reopen for the reason that the worker had sustained a new injury did not establish, as a matter of law, that the worker had sustained a new industrial injury. ....William Rodgers, 14,339 (1964)
Prior Board decision in same claim
Where a prior Board decision involving the same claim required a determination of the exact amount of monetary pension benefits, and the determination of the worker's rate of time loss compensation was a critical part of that decision, the doctrine of collateral estoppel bars the Department from recalculating the pension benefits on remand when it discovers the time loss compensation rate was based on the incorrect number of hours worked per day. ....Eleanor Lewis (II), 89 2474 (1990)
Superior court judgment in unrelated case
The Department was not barred from defending the constitutionality of a statute (RCW 51.08.178) even though a superior court in an unrelated case in which the Department was a party had previously held the statute unconstitutional. Since neither the claimant nor her employer were parties to the other action, the doctrine of collateral estoppel was held inapplicable. ....Lisa Soden, 85 2993 (1987) [Editor's Note: The Board's decision was appealed to superior court under King County Cause No. 87-2-05759-3.]