A. Within ten (10) days after the date of receipt of notice or of knowledge of injury or death, the employer shall send to the Workers' Compensation Commission a report setting forth:
1. The name, address, and business of the employer;
2. The name, address, and occupation of the employee;
3. The cause and nature of the injury or death;
4. The year, month, day, approximately when, and the particular locality where, the injury or death occurred; and
5. Such other information as the Commission may require.
B. Additional reports with respect to the injury and of the condition of the employee shall be sent by the employer to the Commission at such time and in such manner as the Commission may prescribe. However, an employer may refuse to provide any information that it deems privileged or confidential.
C. Any report provided for in subsection A or B of this section shall not be evidence of any fact stated in the report in any proceeding with respect to the injury or death on account of which the report is made. Any such report shall be kept confidential and shall not be open to public inspection; provided, however, such report shall be made available immediately upon request by the injured employee named in the report, the injured employee's legal representative, or any prosecutorial authority. The report shall be open to public inspection upon the employee's first notice of claim for compensation being filed.
D. The mailing of any report in a stamped envelope, properly addressed, within the time prescribed in subsection A or B of this section, shall be in compliance with this section. In addition, the Commission shall establish a means of electronic delivery of any report or other information required by this section.
E. 1. Any employer who after notice refuses to send any report required by this section shall be subject to a civil penalty in an amount of Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) for each refusal.
2. Whenever the employer has failed or refused to comply as provided in this section, the Commission may serve on the employer a proposed judgment declaring the employer to be in violation of this act and containing the amount, if any, of the civil penalty to be assessed against the employer under this section.
F. An employer may contest a proposed judgment of the Commission issued under subsection E of this section by filing with the Commission, within twenty (20) days of receipt of the proposed judgment, a written request for a hearing. If a written request for hearing is not filed with the Commission within this time, the proposed judgment, proposed penalty, or both, shall be a final judgment of the Commission. The request for a hearing does not need to be in any particular form but shall specify the grounds on which the person contests the proposed judgment, the proposed assessment, or both. A proposed judgment by the Commission under this section shall be prima facie correct, and the burden is on the employer to prove that the proposed judgment is incorrect.
G. Hearings conducted under this section shall proceed as provided in Sections 69 through 78 of this title.
H. If an employer fails to pay any civil penalty assessed against the employer after a judgment issued under this section has become final by operation of law, the Commission may petition the district court of the county where the employer's principal place of business is located for an order enjoining the employer from engaging in further employment or conduct of business until such time as the employer makes all required reports and pays all civil penalties.
Added by Laws 2013, c. 208, § 63, eff. Feb. 1, 2014. Amended by Laws 2019, c. 476, § 24, emerg. eff. May 28, 2019.