Jurisdiction: Case and Controversy

Stavenjord v. Montana State Fund [04/24/08] 2008 MTWCC 17 With no common fund and no case or controversy remaining, this Court questions whether it has jurisdiction to oversee a notification and identification process as ordered by the Montana Supreme Court.

Hernandez v. ACE USA [7/3/03] 2003 MTWCC 47 To give rise to a justiciable issue, there must be an actual case and controversy between the parties. An issue which only affects non-parties is not justiciable.

Hernandez v. ACE USA [7/3/03] 2003 MTWCC 47 Courts do not give advisory or abstract opinions, enter anticipatory judgments, declare social status, deal with theoretical problems, answer moot questions, or adjudicate purely academic matters.

Liberty Northwest Ins. Corp. v. Shana Behr [7/9/98] 1998 MTWCC 56 WCC dismissed petition filed by insurer to litigate whether worker was entitled to benefits under WCA after worker filed tort claim against insurer's insured. An insurer cannot use a declaratory judgment action to force a claimant to litigate a potential claim for benefits. Second, in light of the employee's express waiver of any claim for WC benefits, no case or controversy exists between the parties, i.e. between the insurer and employee. Finally, insofar as a real controversy may exist concerning the effect of the waiver upon the tort claim, the insurer is without standing because, as a workers' compensation insurer, it has no personal stake in the outcome of that controversy. The Court hearing the tort claim is the forum to handle an argument over exclusivity of the WC remedy.