THE FUTURE OF LEGISLATIVE REFORMS OF WORKERS’ COMPENSATION IN PENNSYLVANIA
By Kevin L. Connors, Esquire Two years away from the one-hundredth anniversary of the enactment of the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Act, Governor Thomas Corbett has proposed several reforms to the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Act, including provisions that would reform the following: Injured Employee’s requirement to procure prescription medications from employer-designated dispensing sources; Medical care providers’… Read more »
SEPTA v. WCAB (Cunningham) No. 2045 C.D. 2011 (Pa. Cmwlth. July 12, 2013)
By: Lisa A. Miller, Esquire The Court reversed the Order of the Appeal Board, which reversed the order of the WCJ suspending the Claimant’s benefits. On June 11, 1996, the Claimant sustained an injury to his right knee in the course and scope of his employment as a first class body mechanic. The Claimant… Read more »
Jaime Whitesell v. WCAB (Staples, Inc.) No. 205 C.D. 2013 (Pa. Cmwlth. July 10, 2013)
By: Lisa A. Miller, Esquire The Court affirmed the Decision of the Appeal Board which denied the Claimant’s Fatal Claim Petition because the death did not occur within 300 weeks of the date of the original work-injury as required by Section 301 (c)(1) of the Workers’ Compensation Act. Pursuant to an NCP, the Employer recognized… Read more »
UPDATE ON PENNSYLVANIA FACEBOOK DECISIONS
By Kevin L. Connors, Esquire The Rule that has been emerging in Pennsylvania, related to discovery of Facebook postings by Plaintiffs in personal injury cases, or, for that matter, Claimants in workers’ compensation matters, is that the courts are generally granting limited discovery requests, with the threshold question being the extent to which the postings… Read more »
“YOU TALKIN TO ME?”
By Jeffrey D. Snyder, Esquire and Kevin L. Connors, Esquire – The Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s recent Decision in Bowman v. Sunoco, Inc., decided on April 25, 2013, validates an agreement that an employee had entered into, when initially hired by her employer, Allied Barton, under which the employee agreed that he/she would not bring a third-party… Read more »
Super Congrats
By Kevin L. Connors, Esquire ConnorsLaw proudly congratulates its partner, Robert F. Horn, Chair of our Subrogation Practice Group, on his recent confirmation as a 2013 Pennsylvania Super Lawyer as nominated and affirmed by his professional peers. This milestone in Bob’s professional career caps his rapid ascendency as an attorney evincing the highest professional standards… Read more »
RECENT AMENDMENT OF PRCP No. 1311.1
By Kevin L. Connors, Esquire Effective as of April 8, 2013, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has amended Pennsylvania Rule of Civil Procedure No. 1311.1, dealing with procedures on Appeals from awards of arbitrators. The amendment deals with the admission of documentary evidence, when a party appeals an award of arbitrators to the Trial Court division… Read more »
A POSTSCRIPT TO PENNSYLVANIA RETIREMENTS INVOLVING WORKERS’ COMPENSATION
By Jeffrey D. Snyder, Esquire and Kevin L. Connors, Esquire On the Achilles heel of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s recent Opinion in the City of Pittsburgh UPMC v. WCAB, a Decision that discussed the burden of proof in voluntary withdrawals from the workforce cases, the Commonwealth Court has now rendered an Opinion on that same… Read more »
CERTIFIED CONGRATS
By Kevin L. Connors, Esquire Joining with our clients and professional contacts, ConnorsLaw congratulates its three partners, Kevin Connors, Kate O’Dell, and Lisa Miller, all of whom have now successfully passed the recent Workers’ Compensation Specialist Certification test administered by the Pennsylvania Bureau of Workers’ Compensation on March 8, 2013. Passage of this certification test… Read more »
SUMMARY OF PENNSYLVANIA WORKERS’ COMPENSATION LAW
By Kevin L. Connors, Esquire The following is a broad summary of practices and procedures under Pennsylvania’s Workers’ Compensation Act, 77. P.S. § 1-1031, I. Filing Deadlines: Employee required to report injury to employer within 21 days of occurrence, for notice provisions of WCA; notice must be to management. If not report within 120 days of… Read more »