On July 7, 2011, Governor Tom Corbett signed House Bill 797 into law, as Act 46 of 2011, amending the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Act by giving firefighters protection against the risk of cancer. The legislation adds a presumption that cancer suffered by veteran firefighters is related to their work duties.…
Often, physicians who perform Independent Medical Examinations (IMEs), hired by the PA workers’ compensation insurance carrier, seem less than truly independent (I know, shocking, huh?). I have heard IME doctors over the years testify that a bulging disc is a natural finding, one that cannot cause symptoms, and cannot lead…
As PA workers’ compensation attorneys, we appreciate the efforts of the Philadelphia Area Project on Occupational Safety and Health (PhilaPOSH), a group who is devoted to the safety and protection of workers across Southeastern Pennsylvania, as well as into New Jersey and Delaware. PhilaPOSH conducted an event this past Memorial…
On June 30, 2011, Governor Tom Corbett signed House Bill 440, bringing the measure into law. While the Pennsylvania Bureau of Workers’ Compensation labelled this a “reform bill,” it appears it will have no real impact on injured workers in PA. Rather, the aim of the new law is to…
One of the ways a workers’ compensation insurance carrier in PA can be relieved of paying workers’ comp benefits to an injured worker in Pennsylvania is by showing that employment is “available” to the injured worker, as described previously in our blog. Prior decisions by both the Supreme Court of…
Under the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Act, when an injured worker in PA is disabled from his or her job due to a work injury, the injured worker is entitled to workers’ compensation wage loss benefits. This rate is based on the earnings the injured worker had prior to the injury.…
When a PA workers’ compensation claim is denied by the insurance carrier, it is up to the injured worker to file a Claim Petition. In litigating a Claim Petition before a Workers’ Compensation Judge (WCJ), the injured worker bears the burden to prove that he or she suffered an injury,…
Cases dealing with benefits stopping in PA workers’ compensation, due an alleged “retirement” of the injured worker, are frequent on our blog. Usually, Pennsylvania Courts are reading the PA Workers’ Compensation Act ever more strictly. A recent case, however, gives hope to the injured worker in Pennsylvania. In Keene v.…
In Pennsylvania workers’ compensation matters, a workers’ comp insurance carrier can only get a “Termination” of benefits when the injured worker is “fully recovered” from his or her injury. This sounds like, and should be, a difficult standard for the insurance carrier to meet. Unfortunately, as happens too often in…
We have already mentioned on a past blog entry that injured workers in Pennsylvania can collect PA workers’ compensation benefits and Social Security Disability benefits at the same time. However, a recent opinion from the United States Tax Court, reported on LawyersUSAOnline.com, reminds us that the receipt of the two…