176.85 PENALTIES; APPEALS.
Subdivision 1.
Appeal procedure. If the commissioner has assessed a penalty against a party
subject to this chapter and the party believes the penalty is not warranted, the party may request
that a formal hearing be held on the matter. The request must be filed within 30 days of the date
that the penalty assessment is served on the party. Upon receipt of a timely request for a hearing
the commissioner shall refer the matter to the chief administrative law judge for assignment to a
compensation judge or administrative law judge.
The chief administrative law judge shall keep a record of the proceeding and provide a
record pursuant to section
176.421.
The decision of the compensation judge or administrative law judge shall be final and shall
be binding and enforceable. The decision may be appealed to the Workers' Compensation Court
of Appeals.
Subd. 2.
Exception. This section does not apply to penalties for which another appeal
procedure is provided, including but not limited to penalties imposed pursuant to section
176.102
or
176.103.
Subd. 3.
Hearing costs. For purposes of this section, a hearing before an administrative law
judge shall be treated in the same manner as a hearing before a compensation judge and no costs
may be charged to the commissioner for the hearing, regardless of who hears it.
History: 1983 c 290 s 167; 1984 c 432 art 2 s 51; 1984 c 640 s 32