Do You Know the Rule? Iowa Electronic Filing

Des Moines, IA (WorkersCompensation.com) -- Electronic filing is common these days in many areas of work and legal life, and workers' compensation is no exception to that trend.

For those in Iowa, the rules regarding electronic filing have recently been updated. Here are the highlights of what's required:

• Electronic data interchange (EDI) information, forms, pleadings, responses, motions, briefs, and any other submissions shall be filed through the workers’ compensation electronic system (WCES). The website address for WCES is www.iowaworkcomp.gov/efile. 
• Any electronic filing that is quarantined due to a virus will not be considered received.
• The division of workers’ compensation may grant a request for waiver of the mandatory use of WCES in contested cases.
• Only a deputy workers’ compensation commissioner or the workers’ compensation commissioner can grant a request for waiver of the mandatory use of WCES in a contested case.
• If the division of workers’ compensation grants a waiver of the mandatory use of WCES in a contested case, the division of workers’ compensation shall file paper documents received from the filer in WCES.

Notable Case

In Logan v. Bon Ton Stores Inc., 943 N.W. 2d 7 (Iowa 2020), a claimant filed a petition for judicial review of a commissioner's ruling electronically and faxed copies to opposing counsel and the state's workers' compensation commission. The Iowa Supreme Court held that service by fax complied with the Administrative Procedure Act, given that the employer's counsel received the petition and read the petition, the employer was not prejudiced, and a fax number that the claimant used was the same fax number that the employer's counsel displayed on the front page of his brief.

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