Back in June, 2015, we discussed the case of Duffey v. Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board (Trola-Dyne, Inc.). Here, the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania found an Impairment Rating Evaluation (IRE) still valid, even though not all accepted injuries were included. An IRE, as you can read on our website, changes the…
Pennsylvania Workers' Compensation Lawyer Blog
Fatal Claim Petition Granted in PA Without Evidence of Exact Work Duties
To win a Claim Petition in Pennsylvania, an injured worker must prove that the alleged work injury was caused by the work activities. This is usually done through the testimony of the injured worker. However, what about in the situation where the work injury is fatal, leaving nobody with direct…
Whether PA Workers’ Compensation Insurance Carrier Has Notice of Corrective Amendment is Based on Totality of Circumstances
Unless a PA workers’ compensation claim is litigated, an injury is typically accepted by the workers’ compensation insurance carrier via a Notice of Compensation Payable (NCP) or Notice of Temporary Compensation Payable (TNCP). If an NCP, or a TNCP, is issued by the insurance company, they have the ability to…
Notice of a Work Injury in PA Must Inform Employer of “the Possibility (an Injury) was Work-Related.”
We have discussed the concept of providing notice of a work injury to one’s employer before on this blog. As a basic rule, notice of a work injury in Pennsylvania must be provided within 120 days of the injury. This can get a bit tricky when we are dealing with…
Mandatory Mediation Policy for Philadelphia Workers’ Compensation Judges’ Office
When litigation begins in a workers’ compensation case in Pennsylvania, by law, a “Mandatory Mediation” must be conducted (unless such a mediation would be “futile.”). The guidelines for these Mandatory Mediations can vary by the hearing office involved (generally, each county in Pennsylvania has a workers’ compensation hearing office). Recently,…
Moving Out of Pennsylvania Not Fatal to Continued Receipt of PA Workers’ Compensation Benefits
It is not uncommon for an injured worker to move from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to another State for a variety of reasons. Depending on the situation, such a move may have varying degrees of impact on a workers’ compensation case. Recently, the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania thankfully held that…
PA Supreme Court Addresses Requirement Injured Worker Had To Be On Employer’s Premises At Time Of Injury
As our loyal readers know by now, an injury in Pennsylvania is covered by the PA Workers’ Compensation Act (Act) if the injury is suffered “in the furtherance of the employer’s business or affairs, regardless of whether the injury occurred on the employer’s premises” [presuming the employee is not subject…
Claim Petition Needed to Get Wage Loss Benefits from Medical-Only Notice of Compensation Payable
In 2004, the Pennsylvania Bureau of Workers’ Compensation created the medical-only Notice of Compensation Payable (NCP). This addressed a long-standing practice in the insurance industry of using a Notice of Denial (NCD) to accept a claim solely for medical benefits. For years, we have questioned the procedure an injured worker…
Franchisor Not “Statutory Employer” in PA Workers’ Compensation
From time to time in a Pennsylvania workers’ compensation case, the entity who is actually the “employer” for workers’ comp purposes is not clear. This is frequently due to the direct employer lacking PA workers’ compensation insurance coverage (which is against the law). When we face such a situation, often…
Injured Worker Seeking Wage Loss After Medical-Only Notice of Compensation Payable Has Only Three Years to Do So
An injured worker in Pennsylvania generally has three years after the date of the injury to file a Claim Petition to seek workers’ compensation benefits for the injury. On the other hand, once an injury is accepted by the issuance of a Notice of Compensation Payable (NCP), and then wage…