Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Lawyer Blog

One of the more common areas of the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Act (Act) seen in appellate cases is the issue of whether an injured worker was in the scope and course of his or her employment at the time of the injury. This is often a very fact-specific inquiry. Recently, the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania addressed whether an injured worker abandoned his work duties at the time of the injury.

The facts of the case in Pipeline Systems, Inc. and Continental Western Insurance Company v. Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board (Pounds) are not in dispute. The injured worker was doing his job installing pipeline when he heard cries of help from a pit about 30 feet away. He rushed over to the pit where an employee of a different company had fallen. In an attempt to rescue the fallen employee, the injured worker descended into the pit. As the injured worker was climbing a ladder out of the pit, he was overcome by methane fumes and fell, hurting his left leg, knee, foot, ribs, back and lungs.

The workers’ comp insurance carrier denied the claim, alleging that the injured worker had removed himself from the scope and course of his employment, by undertaking the rescue effort (a real class act, the insurance industry). In litigating the Claim Petition, the Workers’ Compensation Judge (WCJ) granted the Petition, despite finding that “Claimant was not required to be at, in or near the pit into which he fell, and that the person he assisted was not a co-worker, and that [Employer] was not responsible for the pit or work being done in the pit on the day Claimant was injured.” The granting of the Claim Petition was affirmed by the Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board (WCAB).

Once PA workers’ compensation benefits are modified or suspended, such as by the injured worker resuming gainful employment, the injured worker has at least 500 weeks within which he or she can reinstate total disability benefits (if the disability related to the injury recurs). If the benefits had been modified (ie: not suspended), and partial disability payments continue to the end of the 500 week period, the time within which the injured worker can reinstate is extended to three years after the date of the last payment within those 500 weeks. But, like every rule, odd facts can create an exception.

The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania recently dealt with such a situation in Kane v. Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board (Glenshaw Glass). As so often happens in these cases, we are dealing with multiple injuries. We have a 1991 injury to the right shoulder, for which benefits were suspended. In 1995, the injured worker hurt his left shoulder, had two operations, and ultimately went back to modified duty work. In 1999, the injured worker suffered another injury to his right shoulder, and this was found by the Workers’ Compensation Judge (WCJ) to be an “aggravation,” not a “recurrence,” so it was found to be a new injury. Benefits were suspended August 2, 1999, since he went back to modified duty work after two surgeries on that shoulder. He then continued to work at that modified duty job until the employer went out of business in November, 2004.

The workers’ comp insurance carrier reinstated total disability benefits for the 1995 left shoulder injury at that point. This continued until 2010, when a settlement (“Compromise & Release”) was reached with regard to the 1995 work injury. Following the settlement, the injured worker filed a Petition to Reinstate, based on the 1999 right shoulder injury. Notably, a Petition for Reinstatement for the 1999 injury was denied prior to the 1995 injury being settled, since total disability benefits were already being paid based on the 1995 injury.

******************REVERSED BY SUPREME COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA – SEE BLOG ENTRY 1/20/17********************

One of the big changes to the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Act in the overhaul of 1996 was the introduction of the Impairment Rating Evaluation (IRE). This has become such a significant part of the Act that our website has an entire section devoted to the IRE process. In essence, an IRE allows the workers’ comp insurance carrier to change the status of an injured worker from “total” disability (for which there is no time limit) to “partial” disability (for which there is a maximum of 500 weeks). But what if the IRE fails to include the entire work injury? A troubling recent decision by the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania holds that the IRE remains valid, even though it failed to consider the entire work injury.

In the matter of Duffey v. Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board (Trola-Dyne, Inc.), the employee suffered electrical burns and nerve injury to both of his hands. After he received 104 weeks of total disability benefits, the workers’ compensation insurance carrier filed for an IRE. The resulting evaluation concluded there was a 6% whole body impairment. Since the IRE was performed within 60 days of the expiration of that 104 weeks, the change to partial disability status was automatic. The injured worker, however, filed a challenge to this change, a Petition to Review Compensation Benefit Offset, alleging that his work injury included more than just that to his hands.

We rarely discuss Pennsylvania appellate cases other than those directly involving workers’ compensation. However, a recent unemployment compensation case touches on the workers’ compensation process, and may be of interest to our readers.

The case is Paolucci v. Unemployment Compensation Board of Review, recently decided by the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania. To understand the case, and its impact on the workers’ compensation system, some background is necessary. In July, 2010, the injured worker suffered a concussion while working for Wal-Mart. The injury was accepted by Notice of Compensation Payable, and workers’ compensation benefits began. An Independent Medical Examination (IME; to the extent one considers these “independent”) found the injured worker able to go back to work; the treating physicians disagreed. The attorney for the injured worker told Wal-Mart that all communication with the injured worker was to be through the attorney’s office. Some type of job offer was apparently made, but the injured worker did not go back to work. The workers’ comp case then settled.

After the settlement, the injured worker filed for unemployment compensation benefits (interestingly, it is common practice for the employer/insurance carrier to require a voluntary resignation as part of a workers’ compensation resolution; that was not done in this case). An unemployment compensation referee awarded unemployment compensation benefits.

An often litigated provision within the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Act (Act) is the 1996 addition, which provides workers’ comp insurance carriers with an ability to change “total” disability status to that of “partial” disability. This is known as the Impairment Rating Evaluation (IRE) process. The significance of such a change is dramatic – while there is no limit on the duration an injured worker can receive “total” disability benefits in PA, “partial” disability benefits can be received for a maximum of 500 weeks. Since this is such a frequent topic we see in the Courts, and in practice, we have a page on our website dedicated entirely to the IRE process. This area is also a frequent topic of our blog posts.

If the IRE is requested within 60 days of the injured worker reaching 104 weeks of total disability, the workers’ compensation insurance company can change the status of benefits automatically, simply by filing a form (provided, as discussed on our website, the whole body impairment rating is less than 50%). If the insurance carrier files the request before the 104 weeks expire, a resulting IRE is not valid. This can, and has, made for some very technical litigated cases.

As an example, the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania recently addressed what “requested” means in this context, in the case of The Village at Palmerton Assisted Living v. Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board (Kilgallon). Given the complex nature of the case, a careful review of the facts is necessary.

We have been following the case of School District of Philadelphia v. Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board (Hilton) through the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania decision, and into the Supreme Court of PA. As you might recall, this case deals with whether a Notice of Ability to Return to Work must be issued in the context of a Claim Petition. Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court has now issued a decision in this matter, clarifying the status.

For background, to recap things, this case featured a teacher who injured her vocal cord and aggravated her preexisting lupus (remember that an aggravation of a preexisting injury is a “new injury” under PA workers’ comp, and is completely compensable). After the injury, but before she filed a Claim Petition, a job was offered in a class/school where she would not be exposed to the same stress level (which had led to her injuries). She did not go back to work, and a few months later filed a Claim Petition. A Notice of Ability to Return to Work was never issued.

After hearing the evidence, the Workers’ Compensation Judge (WCJ) granted the Claim Petition, but suspended benefits as of the date the new job was offered. The Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board (WCAB) affirmed the granting of the Claim Petition, but reversed the WCJ, finding that benefits should not have been suspended. Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania then reversed the WCAB, and said the WCJ was correct in suspending the benefits.