It is with a heavy heart, and great sadness, that we relate that the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation community has lost a valued member. Workers’ Compensation Judge Mark Peleak passed away while bicycling on July 7, 2013. Judge Peleak presided in the Wilkes-Barre Workers’ Compensation Office, which is in the Central…
We were appalled when the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania recently found armed robbery to be a “normal” part of the job as a clerk working for the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board. Accordingly, we are seeking to take our battle to the top. When a party loses a workers’ compensation case…
We have expressed our displeasure for how the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Act treats mental/emotional injuries. As long as the cause of the injury is purely mental/emotional, any resulting disability is only compensable if the cause represents an “abnormal working condition.” The standard for this test varies according to the job…
Regular readers to our blog know that, in addition to noting recent court decisions involving workers’ compensation matters in Pennsylvania, we also try to keep injured workers informed about any developments in diagnosing or treating work injuries. Along these lines, one of the frequent topics we blog on is pain,…
As we discussed previously, premiums for workers’ compensation insurance in Pennsylvania have been reduced for the second consecutive period. Apparently, all is not well for the insurance carriers in PA however. It appears a change in the law has made several insurance carriers refuse to cover fire departments in Pennsylvania.…
In the Pennsylvania workers’ compensation system, we frequently see cases involving carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). As many of you know, this condition occurs when the median nerve is entrapped in the wrist. There are many potential causes of CTS, including familial history, certain medical conditions, trauma and certain physical activities.…
One of the most difficult decisions faced by an injured worker in PA is how to decide who to hire as their worker’s compensation attorney. Many sites, or publications, have a list of attorneys they tout. Maybe they are called “Super” attorneys or “Awesome” lawyers, or some other cleaver marketing…
Mediation is a growing area in Pennsylvania workers’ comp. As we have previously discussed, a mediation is when an independent party, in this context usually a Workers’ Compensation Judge [WCJ] (other than the assigned WCJ), meets with the parties in an informal setting in an effort to resolve the differences…
The general rule in Pennsylvania workers’ compensation is that if a work injury makes you unable to work, you should be entitled to workers’ compensation benefits. One of the exceptions to this rule is when the loss of wages is due to some reason unrelated to the work injury. Recently,…
Fresh from the PA Supreme Court decision in City of Pittsburgh v. Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board (Robinson), comes a decision from the Commonwealth Court, again addressing the interplay between the concept of “retirement” and the continued entitlement to workers’ compensation benefits in Pennsylvania. In the matter of Fitchett v. Workers’…