WORKERS' COMPENSATION - EX PARTE COWABUNGA, INC., D/B/A DOMINO'S PIZZA

In Ex parte Cowabunga, Inc., d/b/a Domino's Pizza, [Ms. 2090734, Jan. 21, 2011] __ So. 3d __(Ala. Civ. App. 2011), the Court of Civil Appeals directed a circuit court that had adjudicated controversies concerning the compensability of an employee's injury and the employee's right to have the employer pay for medical treatment recommended by his authorized treating physician to include conclusive findings as to every fact responsive to the issues presented to and litigated by the parties, and a recitation of the law applicable to those facts upon which the trial court relied in reaching its determination. Despite the conflict with language in SCI Alabama Funeral Servs., Inc. v. Hester, 984 So. 2d 1207, 1211 (Ala. Civ. App. 2007) (per curiam opinion with one judge concurring and four judges concurring in the result), the Court of Civil Appeals held in Ex parte Cowabunga that ¤ 25-5-88, Ala. Code 1975, requires circuit courts to make findings of fact and conclusions of law as to every determination of a controversy regarding the right to benefits under the Workers' Compensation Act, even if those determinations would not otherwise qualify as a "final judgment" that would support an appeal. See Williams Power, Inc. v. Johnson, 880 So. 2d 459, 461 (Ala. Civ. App. 2003) (holding that a "final judgment" is a "terminal decision which demonstrates that there has been a completed adjudication of all matters in controversy between the litigants" and "the judgment must be conclusive and certain with all matters decided...)."

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