MARY C. JORDAN                                                                                                                           CLAIMANT

vs.

PACE HEAD START                                                                                                                         EMPLOYER
AND
MISSISSIPPI CASUALTY INSURANCE COMPANY                                                                      CARRIER
 

THIS DAY came on to be considered the Claimant's appeal, and the Commission having examined the record and having considered the briefs in this matter and being otherwise fully advised in the premises is of the opinion that the Order on Employer and Carrier's Motion to Dismiss by the Administrative Judge must be affirmed.

As the Mississippi Supreme Court so aptly put it in Speed Mechanical , Inc. and Maryland Casualty Company v. Wesley H. Taylor, 342 So. 2d 317 at 319 (Miss. 1977):

Our rule is that we liberally interpret the workmen's compensation law in favor of claimants in doubtful cases, but we cannot amend a statute or excuse non-compliance with prerequisite conditions imposed by the legislature.

MISSISSIPPI WORKERS' COMPENSATION COMMISSION
Barney Schoby
Beverly Bolton
COMMISSIONERS

ATTEST:
Brenda H. Goolsby, Secretary
___________________________
 

MWCC NO. 99 02072-G-4888-D-00

MARY C. JORDAN                                                                                                                               CLAIMANT

vs.

PACE HEAD START                                                                                                                             EMPLOYER
AND
MS CASUALTY INSURANCE CO.                                                                                                         CARRIER
 

The above captioned cause came on for hearing on the employer and carrier's motion to dismiss the claimant's Petition to Controvert. After considering the employer and carrier's motion and argument of counsel as reflected in briefs filed by the parties in this cause, the undersigned finds as follows:

1. The claimant was injured on August 2, 1995.

2. The employer and carrier filed a B-3 and provided medical treatment through the offices of Dr. Bertha Blanchard of Hubsouth Medical Center through May of 1998.

3. The claimant filed a Petition to Controvert her August 2, 1995 injury on February 17, 1999.

4. The employer and carrier filed an Answer denying the injury on March 10, 1999.

5. The employer and carrier filed a Motion to Dismiss on March 29, 1999.

6. The employer and carrier did not pay weekly compensation benefits.

7. The claimant does not contend that she has suffered a latent injury.
 

The applicable statutory authority governing this case is Mississippi Code Annotated, section 71-3-35 (1) (1972), which is the two year statute. Pertinent language in this section is as follows:

[I]f no payment of compensation (other than medical treatment or burial expenses) is made and no application for benefits filed with the Commission within two (2) years from the date of the injury or death, the right to compensation therefore shall be barred.

The claimant relies on the case of Graeber Bros., Inc. v. Taylor, 237 Miss. 237, 115 So. 2d 735 (1960) which she contends stands for the proposition that payment of medical expenses is considered a payment of compensation for the purpose of tolling the statute of limitations. However, the claimant has misapprehended the Graeber case. Graeber is a case which relates to the one year statute of limitations, Mississippi Code Annotated, section 71-3-53 (1972).
 

IT IS, THEREFORE, ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that the employer and carrier's motion be, and the same hereby is granted.

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the claimant's Petition to Controvert be, and the same hereby is DISMISSED with prejudice.

SO ORDERED this the 17th day of August, 1999.

LYDIA QUARLES
ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE

ATTEST:
Brenda H. Goolsby, Secretary