0 results for 'Petrucci'
Court Takes a Step Back on Proving Abnormal Working Conditions
A little over a year ago, the state Supreme Court case of Payes v. Workers' Compensation Appeal Board (Commonwealth of Pennsylvania State Police), 79 A.3d 543 (Pa. 2013), finally eased the burden, even if ever so slightly, on the injured worker attempting to prove a "mental-mental" claim for a psychiatric work injury and disability. It was hoped by the claimants' bar that the case signaled a reverse in the longstanding trend of the courts finding new and inventive ways to deny mental-mental claims. The Supreme Court essentially found that the lower tribunals had overreached in many instances.
Commonwealth Court Rules on Competency of Dueling IRE Physicians
Last month, in the case of Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare v. Workers' Compensation Appeal Board (Slessler), No. 2209 C.D. 2013, the Commonwealth Court took up a matter dealing with the competency of doctors testifying with respect to an impairment rating evaluation. While the procedural history and fact pattern of the case are fairly convoluted, the ultimate holding provides some guidance regarding an injured worker's ability to challenge the validity of an IRE.
Modern Workplaces Add Complexity to Workers' Comp Cases
A day at work isn't always just a day at the office. Attorneys in workers' compensation practice know that all too well. And as technological advances allow more workers to telecommute and correspond on work matters from outside of the office, the conditions surrounding compensable incidents are increasingly complicated.
Modern Workplaces Add Complexity to Workers' Comp Cases
A day at work isn't always just a day at the office. Attorneys in workers' compensation practice know that all too well. And as technological advances allow more workers to telecommute and correspond on work matters from outside of the office, the conditions surrounding compensable incidents are increasingly complicated.A Tax on Legal Services Would Further Harm the Injured Worker
While it would appear that we have dodged a bullet yet again in the current legislative session, the move to tax legal services has intensified in the last few years. Most recently, the bill made it as far as it ever has when, last month, it passed in the Pennsylvania Senate Finance Committee in bipartisan fashion, by one vote.Commonwealth Court: Pension Offset Inures to Parent Company
With the passage of Act 57 of 1996, the Pennsylvania Workers' Compensation Act was amended to provide for offsets against indemnity compensation for certain pension or severance payments as well as for "old age" Social Security payments and unemployment compensation benefits. The relevant section of the act dealing with the offsets of pension benefits is Section 204(a), which provides that "the benefits from a pension plan to the extent funded by the employer directly liable for the payment of compensation which are received by an employee shall also be credited against the amount of the" employee's disability benefits. On Sept. 10, in the matter of Stepp v. Workers' Compensation Appeal Board (FairPoint Communications), No. 2270 C.D. 2013, the Commonwealth Court dealt with the meaning of the phrase "the extent funded by the employer" as it pertains to a successor company in interest. Given that pension-offset situations arise in a small percentage of cases, reading Stepp will refresh the practitioner's awareness of the general principles and should provide a valuable practice tip.Adverse Inference Insufficient to Prove Undocumented Alien Status
Last month, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court issued its long-awaited decision in Cruz v. Workers' Compensation Appeal Board (Kennett Square Specialties).Revisiting Mandatory Workers' Compensation Mediations
While it may be hard to believe, the mandatory mediation process has been with us for almost 10 years. Act 147 of 2006, which amended the Workers' Compensation Act, originally codified the program. Given that there was initially some apprehension with the concept of making mediations mandatory, revisiting some of the concerns originally raised is warranted. It is also important to review some issues that can arise with both mandatory and voluntary mediations and recall some basic principles that will assist either type of mediation in being a success.Determining Employee's Voluntary Removal From the Workforce
A little over a year ago, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court issued an extraordinarily significant opinion in the matter of City of Pittsburgh v. Workers' Compensation Appeal Board (Robinson), No. 18 WAP 2011, which clarified an employer's burden in demonstrating that an employee has removed himself or herself from the workforce. This is significant since voluntary withdrawal from the workforce, or retirement, entitles an employer to a suspension of indemnity benefits. Essentially, Robinson held that in order to prove voluntary removal, the employer must establish by a "totality of the circumstances" that the injured worker has chosen not to return to the workforce.Exploring How to Calculate the Average Weekly Wage
One area of workers' compensation law that often gets overlooked is the calculation of the average weekly wage (AWW). The AWW that the employer and insurance company acknowledge on various Bureau of Workers' Compensation documents is often inaccurate. Moreover, even the corresponding compensation rate is occasionally not calculated properly, in the instances where the average weekly wage is accurate.TRENDING STORIES
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