The city of Pittsburgh’s failure to show that reducing a fire captain’s workers’ compensation benefits would not cause financial hardship does not mean the city cannot reduce the benefits to recoup prior payments, the Commonwealth Court has ruled.
The decision in City of Pittsburgh v. Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board (Lacava) overturns a decision from a workers’ compensation judge, which held that the recoupment raises a “presumption of prejudice,” or hardship, to a claimant that an employer must rebut. Judge Mary Hannah Leavitt, who wrote the three-judge panel’s memorandum opinion, determined that the workers’ compensation judge’s holding was based on an incorrect interpretation of a 2007 decision.
