Back in July, 2019, we blogged, unhappily, about the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania decision in Peters v. Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board (Cintas Corporation). This decision found a traveling employee to not be in the scope and course of his employment when he was injured in a motor vehicle accident after…
One frequently litigated part of PA workers’ compensation law is whether an injured worker is within the “scope and course” of his or her employment at the time of the injury. Often, this question is dealing with a situation where an employee is injured just before or after his or…
As we have noted previously, all hearings in Pennsylvania workers’ compensation matters have been held virtually, either by telephone or video, since last Spring. We have now been told that the hearing offices within the PA Bureau of Workers’ Compensation will be reopening as of August 16, 2021. However, this…
Most employees in PA are covered by the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Act. This is a topic that has been mentioned previously in this blog. However, that thought begs the question – who is actually an “employee”? This can be a complicated topic and analysis, where one must differentiate the “employee”…
The Pennsylvania Bureau of Workers’ Compensation has announced that The Honorable Ashley Drinkwine will be a new Workers Compensation Judge (WCJ) assigned to the Philadelphia Workers’ Compensation Hearing Office. Judge Drinkwine will be taking the place of Judge Scott Olin, who has retired after many successful years on the bench. …
We apologize for having such infrequent posts these past several months. Like much of society, things have slowed down since the pandemic arrived. There seem to be fewer appellate decisions coming down, and those that do seem more frequently to be unreported decisions. This makes it more difficult to find…
It is a frequent call we receive. “My check is late.” Nobody wants to deal with a delay in getting their check, especially around the holidays. Indeed, getting a check late means more than just difficulty in holiday shopping – it means late rent, mortgage payments, phone bills, credit card…
As happens every year around this time, the Pennsylvania Bureau of Workers’ Compensation has released the Statewide Average Weekly Wage (SAWW) for the coming year. For 2021, the SAWW is $1,130.00, an increase over the $1,081.00 of 2020. The SAWW represents the maximum weekly workers’ compensation rate an injured worker…
The Pennsylvania Bureau of Workers’ Compensation rarely announces the coming or going of Workers’ Compensation Judges (WCJs). Recently, the Bureau veered from its normal procedure and announced the following release: “The Workers’ Compensation Office of Adjudication is pleased to announce the hiring of two new Judges: Anthony Salvino, Esq. and…
As we have discussed in the past, the assessment of unreasonable contest attorney fees is a rare finding in PA workers’ compensation. This is when the workers’ comp insurance carrier is ordered to pay the fees of the injured worker’s attorney. Even on those unusual occasions when a Workers’ Compensation…