To Be, or Not To Be Reimbursed
With the Bureau having been progressively more aggressive in its administrative denials and challenges to employers/insurers Supersedeas Fund Reimbursement Applications, the Commonwealth Court’s February 2, 2009 Decision in Department of Labor and Industry v. Crawford and Company is an all too welcome key to unlocking the Bureau’s Supersedeas Fund vaults, filled with dollars, shrinking in value as… Read more »
A Drive-by of a Course and Scope Case
It was about 6:45 a.m., on an otherwise very normal Tuesday morning, a few days before Thanksgiving, when the Claimant, a 32 year old union painter, was involved in a two-vehicle collision, while driving his personal car to work, for which the Claimant never received any reimbursement from his union employer, for either time or… Read more »
Trial Case Note: Falling from Grace
With over $200,000 in special damages for related medical bills and “lost” wages, and a specious claim that the Plaintiff lost his job because of his slip and fall injuries, an element of damages vigorously contested through every phase of the trial, this trial, and its ultimate defense verdict, hinged on several key factors. This… Read more »
Superior Court Allows Plaintiff to Withdraw PRCP 1311.1 Stipulation, Limiting Recoverable Damages to $25,000, Removing Limitation on Jury’s Consideration of Plaintiff’s Damages
In a case of first impression, the Pennsylvania Superior Court recently ruled, on May 1, 2009, in Dolan v. Fissell, No. 239 EDA 2008, that the Plaintiff, who was seeking personal injury damages from a motor vehicle accident, was permitted to withdraw her PRCP 1311.1 Stipulation, allowing a Plaintiff to admit medical records and reports into… Read more »
The Real Diehl: Repairing Impairment
About a year ago, the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation community was turned on its head when the Commonwealth Court issued its initial opinion in Diehl v. WCAB (IA Construction Liberty Mutual Insurance). That opinion shocked compensation practitioners in the course of eviscerating the impairment rating provisions of Act 57, superimposing the requirement that employers seeking to modify… Read more »
Injury Amendment: Corrective versus Consequential
All workers’ compensation practitioners are aware that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court had previously established a very complicated legal precedent in Jeanes Hospital v. WCAB, 872 A.2d 159 (Pa. 2005), under which Claimants were permitted to seek to amend the accepted description of injury, with the Jeanes Hospital Court allowing Claimants to file Review Petitions to “correct” Notices of… Read more »
Gunn Fight at the Koken Corral
Several months ago, the Pennsylvania Superior Court issued a Decision, in Gunn v. Hartford, 971 A.2d 505 (Pa. Super. 2009) of critical importance to the approach to and resolution of first party claims for uninsured and underinsured motorist’s benefits.
Digest of Appellate Decisions October 2009
Riddle v. WCAB (Allegheny City Electric, Inc.), 54 WAP 2008 (Pa. Supreme Ct. 2009) Nationwide Mutual Fire Insurance Co. v. Bureau of Workers’ Compensation Fee Review Hearing Office and Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, 1132 C.D. 2008 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2009) Johnson v. WCAB ( Sealy Components Group), 763 C.D. 2009 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2009) Reutzel…. Read more »
UIM Update
The Pennsylvania Superior Court issued an important UIM decision on September 23, 2009, in Pusl v. Means, et al. Pusl involved the Plaintiff appealing a trial court judgment in her favor, with the Superior Court affirming the trial court judgment, which judgment had resulted in the Plaintiff’s jury trial verdict being molded to account for a credit/offset against… Read more »
Is Independence Self-Evident?
How many times, whether in the last year or over the course of your tenure as a savvy workers’ compensation practitioner, have you received a Claim Petition, alleging a work-related injury occurring in the alleged course and scope of employment, against an insured, who then proceeds to tell you that the injury was never reported,… Read more »