Miscellaneous Records

(1) Mediation Records (a) The Bureau adopts Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 31 pertaining to confidentiality of all information created or obtained during mediation proceedings except as otherwise required by law. (b) Mediation records consists of all documents and information presented to the Bureau, during the course of mediation, relating to the employees’ wages, medical condition, and any other information pertinent to the resolution of disputed issues pursuant to Tenn. Code Ann. § 50-6-236(b)(3). (c) Requests for public records following mediation shall be made to the Record Custodian; however, during the course of mediation, a party may contact the assigned mediator to obtain those records necessary to facilitate a resolution of the disputed issues, including a copy of the Petition for Benefit Determination, the Request for Mediation, Request for Assistance, or Request for Benefit Review Conference. (d) The following mediation records are not public records: INSPECTION AND COPIES OF PUBLIC RECORDS CHAPTER 0800-02-29 1. Confidential position statements, handwritten notes, and other materials or information expressly meant for a mediator and which the submitting party has not expressly consented to be divulged to the other party and; 2. Medical records and claim forms specifically excluded from the public record by law. (2) Court of Workers’ Compensation Claims and Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board Records (a) The Bureau adopts Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 34 pertaining to judicial records filed in the Court of Workers’ Compensation Claims and the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board: (b) The public has a statutory right to inspect public records maintained by agencies of state government. Accordingly, the public has the right to inspect public records maintained by the clerk of the Court of Workers’ Compensation Claims and Appeals Board unless the record has been submitted under seal or is the subject of a protective order. Requests to inspect public records maintained by the clerk of the Court of Workers’ Compensation Claims and Appeals Board are, however, subject to reasonable requirements and restrictions intended to preserve the integrity of the record, the parties’ right to the record for the purpose of preparing their appellate papers, and the efficient operation of the appellate courts. (c) For the purposes of these guidelines, a “record” includes any record defined as a “public record” in Tenn. Code Ann. § 10-7-301(6) (1992) that has not been submitted under seal or that is not the subject of a protective order. (d) The following judicial records are not public records: 1. Unfiled drafts of judicial orders and opinions; 2. Written or electronic conference records, notes, memoranda, or other documents of a similar nature prepared by judges or judges staff as part of the judicial decision-making process unless filed as part of the court record; 3. Copies, other than the original, of motions, petitions, briefs, and other similar documents filed with the clerk of the Court of Workers’ Compensation Claims and Appeals Board that have been furnished to individual appellate judges for their personal use; 4. Written or electronic conference records, notes, memoranda, reports, or other documents of a similar nature prepared by a judge or judge’s staff on behalf of or at the direction of the court or judge as part of the judicial decision-making process unless filed as part of the court record; 5. All internal case management information except for information concerning the composition of panels assigned to consider a particular case; 6. Information maintained by individual judges with regard to their recusal from particular appeals unless the information is filed as part of the court record or unless it is subject to disclosure pursuant to Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 8-50-501, 8-50- 506 (1993 & Supp. 1998) or Tenn. S. Ct. R. 10; 7. Documents protected from disclosure by order or rule of court; and INSPECTION AND COPIES OF PUBLIC RECORDS CHAPTER 0800-02-29 8. Any other record the disclosure of which would frustrate or interfere with the judicial function of the Court of Workers’ Compensation Claims or Appeals Board. (3) Uninsured Employers Fund/Misclassification Fund Records (a) The bureau will release the file to a named employer or its attorney, upon request, for review of the materials in which the Administrator or Designee based a determination. (b) With a proper authorization to release the information, an employer under investigation may inspect or obtain a copy of its file.