Under the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Act, a workers’ comp insurance carrier has 21 days to accept or deny a claim. During that period, the workers’ comp insurance carrier is to investigate the claim. This both fair and clear. The award of attorney fees under the PA Workers’ Compensation Act is…
Claimants receiving, or attempting to receive, workers’ compensation benefits in PA are required to report receipt of various income. There are three what we call “verification forms,” which workers’ compensation insurance companies can send to these claimants. If these forms, which were approved by the Pennsylvania Bureau of Workers’ Compensation,…
One of the most difficult burdens an injured worker in Pennsylvania faces is when he or she is trying to reinstate PA workers’ compensation benefits after a Workers’ Compensation Judge (WCJ) has terminated such benefits. Since the granting of a Termination Petition means that the WCJ has found the claimant…
A recent decision by the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, Albert Einstein Healthcare v. W.C.A.B. (Stanford), held that an injured worker seeking Pennsylvania workers’ compensation benefits must present expert medical evidence to prove disability. The testimony of the injured worker alone, unless the injury and the disability are obviously connected, will…
Not that long ago, a Pennsylvania workers’ compensation insurance company could terminate the benefits of an injured worker anytime they found a doctor to say the injured worker had fully recovered from his or her work injury. This encouraged the workers’ compensation insurance carriers to file Termination Petition after Termination…
In a very disturbing decision by the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, in Watson v. W.C.A.B. (Special People in Northeast), reported by the Court on May 30, 2008, the injured worker was denied reimbursement of litigation costs, even though the injured worker was successful in part of her Claim Petition. Claimant…
Many injured workers in Pennsylvania know not to sign a document they receive from the workers’ compensation insurance company without checking first with an experienced workers’ compensation attorney. Unfortunately, few injured workers are aware that some documents exist in the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Act which can cause workers’ comp benefits…
In an earlier blog entry, I explained the process of workers’ compensation appeals in Pennsylvania. Since the Supreme Court of PA can accept only those appeals it wishes, very few workers’ compensation cases are heard by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. Unfortunately, on May 19, 2008, the Supreme Court of…
On May 14, 2008, the Workers’ Compensation Section of the Philadelphia Bar Association received an e-mail that all pleadings (including briefs and stipulations resolving disputes between parties) addressed to Workers’ Compensation Judge Aida Louise Harris, in the Northeast Philadelphia Workers’ Compensation Office must be submitted on CD in Microsoft Word…
A common fear with an injured worker is the impact of his or her employer, or the workers’ compensation insurance carrier, filing for bankruptcy. In Pennsylvania, an injured worker need not be concerned with such a development. Whether it is the bankruptcy of the employer, or the workers’ compensation insurance…