---
type: "Bill"
title: "Workers' compensation; claims not barred."
description: "Workers' compensation; claims not barred.Provides that an order issued by the Workers' Compensation Commissionawarding or denying benefits shall not bar by res judicata any claimby an employee or cause a waiver, abandonment, or dismissal of anyclaim by an employee if the order does not expressly adjudicate suchclaim."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2021"
identifier: "SB 1351"
citation: "Virginia SB 1351 (2021)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Lynwood W. Lewis, Jr."]
version_count: 3
action_count: 29
vote_count: 8
first_action: "2021-01-13"
last_action: "2021-03-31"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/d84f444e-830c-40ed-bf88-30b188ee7cde"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+sum+SB1351"
source_hash: "0ae357518f787a32f539c15c577888d6b2045f229c7801716eb1b8e075704ac9"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-va"]
---

# Virginia SB 1351 (2021) — Workers' compensation; claims not barred.

Workers' compensation; claims not barred.Provides that an order issued by the Workers' Compensation Commissionawarding or denying benefits shall not bar by res judicata any claimby an employee or cause a waiver, abandonment, or dismissal of anyclaim by an employee if the order does not expressly adjudicate suchclaim.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **CHAP0515** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+CHAP0515)
2. **Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/13/21 21101731D** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+SB1351)
3. **SB1351ER** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+SB1351ER)

## Votes

- Reported from Commerce and Labor (15-Y 0-N) — **15–0** (pass) · upper
- Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N) — **39–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Labor and Commerce (21-Y 0-N) — **21–0** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Courts of Justice (22-Y 0-N) — **22–0** (pass) · lower
- Subcommittee recommends reporting (8-Y 0-N) — **8–0** (pass) · lower
- Read third time and passed Senate (37-Y 0-N) — **37–0** (pass) · upper
- VOTE: Block Vote Passage (97-Y 0-N) — **96–0** (pass) · lower
- Continued to Special Session 1 in Labor and Commerce — **0–0** (fail) · lower

## Sponsors

- Lynwood W. Lewis, Jr. — primary (person)
- Scott A. Surovell — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2021-01-13** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/13/21 21101731D `introduction`
- **2021-01-13** Referred to Committee on Commerce and Labor `referral-committee`
- **2021-01-20** Impact statement from DPB (SB1351)
- **2021-01-25** Reported from Commerce and Labor (15-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2021-01-27** Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N)
- **2021-01-28** Read second time and engrossed `reading-2`
- **2021-01-29** Read third time and passed Senate (37-Y 0-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2021-02-02** Placed on Calendar
- **2021-02-02** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2021-02-02** Referred to Committee on Labor and Commerce `referral-committee`
- **2021-02-08** Continued to Special Session 1 in Labor and Commerce
- **2021-02-10** Assigned L & C sub: Subcommittee #1 `referral-committee`
- **2021-02-16** Reported from Labor and Commerce (21-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2021-02-16** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
- **2021-02-16** Assigned Courts sub: Civil `referral-committee`
- **2021-02-17** Subcommittee recommends reporting (8-Y 0-N)
- **2021-02-20** Reported from Courts of Justice (22-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2021-02-23** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2021-02-24** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2021-02-24** Passed by temporarily
- **2021-02-24** Passed House BLOCK VOTE (97-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2021-02-24** VOTE: Block Vote Passage (97-Y 0-N)
- **2021-02-26** Enrolled
- **2021-02-26** Impact statement from DPB (SB1351ER)
- **2021-02-26** Signed by Speaker
- **2021-02-27** Signed by President
- **2021-03-01** Enrolled Bill Communicated to Governor on March 1, 2021
- **2021-03-01** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., March 31, 2021
- **2021-03-31** Approved by Governor-Chapter 515 (effective 7/1/21) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/d84f444e-830c-40ed-bf88-30b188ee7cde`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).