Ex Parte Standard Furniture Mfg. Co., in re DeFee

Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama

Conecuh County | 333 So. 3d 139 | Feb. 26, 2021


Court Denies Employer's Request to Transfer, and Dispute Over Filing Fee in Workers' Compensation Case.

William K. DeFee sought to enforce a prior Alabama workers' compensation judgment against Standard Furniture Manufacturing Co., LLC, alleging they hadn't paid him his due benefits. When attempting to file a contempt motion in 2020, DeFee encountered a system restriction and consequently asked the court to consolidate his new action with prior related cases. In retaliation, Standard Furniture petitioned for a writ of mandamus to challenge the new action and question the need for a filing fee.

While one of Standard Furniture's petitions was dismissed outright, the court decided that the payment of a filing fee by DeFee was valid. Standard Furniture also sought to shift the venue of the new action from Conecuh County to Baldwin County but failed to convince the court. Even when they cited the Workers' Compensation Act to claim immunity, the court refuted this, stating the Act did not shield them from repercussions for violating a prior judgment. Lastly, Standard Furniture's gripe about a delegated decision on the filing fee was dismissed as it bore no injury to them. In the end, the court found no substantial grounds to grant a writ of mandamus to Standard Furniture.

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