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Utah high court revives Olive Garden worker’s comp claim - Business Insurance Skip to content Register for free Search Search Log In Risk Management Cyber Risks Pricing Trends Mergers & Acquisitions Technology Sponsored Content WSIA RISKWORLD Workers Comp & Safety Workers Comp Cost Control Pain Management Workplace Safety International EMEA Asia-Pacific Latin America People Events BI Intelligence Top 100 Agents & Brokers Best Places to Work 2025 Lists Directories Insurance Pricing BI Stock Index Magazine Current Issue Past Issues Subscribe Women to Watch ALL INsurance Resources Risk Perspectives Sponsored Content Webinars White Papers Risk Management Cyber Risks Pricing Trends Mergers & Acquisitions Technology Sponsored Content WSIA RISKWORLD Workers Comp & Safety Workers Comp Cost Control Pain Management Workplace Safety International EMEA Asia-Pacific Latin America People Events BI Intelligence Top 100 Agents & Brokers Best Places to Work 2025 Lists Directories Insurance Pricing BI Stock Index Magazine Current Issue Past Issues Subscribe Women to Watch ALL INsurance Resources Risk Perspectives Sponsored Content Webinars White Papers Risk Management Cyber Risks Pricing Trends Mergers & Acquisitions Technology Sponsored Content WSIA RISKWORLD Workers Comp & Safety Workers Comp Cost Control Pain Management Workplace Safety International EMEA Asia-Pacific Latin America People Events BI Intelligence Top 100 Agents & Brokers Best Places to Work 2025 Lists Directories Insurance Pricing BI Stock Index Magazine Current Issue Past Issues Subscribe Women to Watch ALL INsurance Resources Risk Perspectives Sponsored Content Webinars White Papers Risk Management Cyber Risks Pricing Trends Mergers & Acquisitions Technology Sponsored Content WSIA RISKWORLD Workers Comp & Safety Workers Comp Cost Control Pain Management Workplace Safety International EMEA Asia-Pacific Latin America People Events BI Intelligence Top 100 Agents & Brokers Best Places to Work 2025 Lists Directories Insurance Pricing BI Stock Index Magazine Current Issue Past Issues Subscribe Women to Watch ALL INsurance Resources Risk Perspectives Sponsored Content Webinars White Papers Utah high court revives Olive Garden worker’s comp claim by Louise Esola Claims Disputes , Workers Comp Coverage , Workplace Safety Aug 21, 2026 The Utah Supreme Court on Thursday unanimously revived a workers compensation claim filed by an Olive Garden manager, ruling the restaurant’s owner waived a defense that the worker failed to timely report his injuries because it did not seek dismissal on that basis. In Darden Restaurant v. Labor Commission , the state high court vacated an appeals court ruling that had found Chinyu James Sun’s shoulder and neck injury claims time-barred. Mr. Sun was working at a Darden Restaurant-owned Olive Garden in St. George in July 2020 when he slipped on spilled ice while carrying a container holding about 30 to 50 pounds of ice. He struck his right shoulder against an ice machine and his head against a wall before landing on his back. Utah law requires injured workers to notify their employers of workplace injuries within 180 days. Although Darden raised lack of timely notice as an affirmative defense and presented evidence concerning when Mr. Sun reported the accident, it did not ask an administrative law judge to dismiss his claims based on the notice requirement. Instead, Darden used the lack of notice to argue that the workplace injury did not occur. The administrative law judge nevertheless raised the timeliness issue on her own and dismissed Mr. Sun’s shoulder and neck claims after finding he had not established timely notice. Following several administrative proceedings, Mr. Sun was eventually awarded benefits for his neck injury, while his shoulder claim remained dismissed. The Utah Court of Appeals subsequently ruled both claims were time-barred. The Supreme Court disagreed, holding that Darden waived the notice defense when it failed to seek relief based on it before the administrative law judge. The court said that although Darden pleaded the defense and introduced evidence that could support it, the company pursued a different theory at the hearing. The administrative law judge improperly assembled the limitations defense on her own, effectively stepping into the role of advocate rather than arbiter, the court said. The high court remanded the case to the appeals court to consider Darden’s unresolved challenges concerning medical causation and medical evidence related to the neck injury. It also directed that the shoulder claim ultimately be returned to the Utah Labor Commission for consideration on its merits. 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