In a recent Commonwealth Court decision, a divided en banc panel has allowed General Motors to unilaterally suspend an injured worker’s benefits without the required paperwork because the man had taken a voluntary retirement package.
More specifically, five judges of the court agreed the workers’ compensation judge had the authority to suspend the man’s benefits, absent a formal termination petition, because he was not prejudiced as a result of the suspension. In other words, the claimant was put on sufficient notice of the change, and would have had little to quibble with if the right paperwork had been filed.
