A plaintiff cannot raise factual issues already resolved in a workers’ compensation case in a subsequent civil case, the Pennsylvania Superior Court has ruled.
“Pennsylvania appellate courts have consistently held findings in workers’ compensation cases may bar relitigation of identical issues in collateral civil actions, even third party tort actions,” Judge Michael Eakin wrote for the unanimous court in Frederick v. Action Tire Co., PICS Case No. 99-2392 (Pa. Super. Dec. 28, 1999) Eakin, J. (13 pages).
