Articles Posted in PA Workers Compensation Bureau Update

We received word from Elizabeth Crum, Director of Adjudication for the Pennsylvania Bureau of Workers’ Compensation that two Workers’ Compensation Judges (WCJs) will be assigned to different hearing offices shortly after the new year. WCJ Michael Hetrick, formerly with the Lancaster hearing office in the Eastern District, will be transferred to the Pottsville hearing office (in the Central District). Then, from the Pottsville hearing office, WCJ Nathan Pogirski will be going to the Reading hearing office (Eastern District).

We wish these Judges a smooth transition and good luck in their new surroundings.

It now is appearing to be a refreshing change in the way the Pennsylvania Bureau of Workers’ Compensation communicates changes in the staffing of the workers’ comp hearing offices across the State. Not long ago, we learned of changes among Workers’ Compensation Judges (WCJ) either through the grapevine, or from the mouths of the WCJs directly involved. Lately, however, much to our delight, the Bureau has begun to communicate news of additions and transfers of WCJs to the attorneys who practice in the area.

Given the communication from the Bureau, we can now advise you folks that Pennsylvania has two new WCJs, Erin Young and Audrey Timm, both of whom will be assigned to the Philadelphia Workers’ Compensation Hearing Office (Southeastern District). This will become official on June 2, 2014. We congratulate each of the new members of the judiciary, and wish them well on the bench.

Additionally, we have been advised that The Honorable Debra Bowers, who had been in the Philadelphia Workers’ Compensation Hearing Office, will be transferring to the Montgomery County office (Eastern District). While Montgomery County is one of the few counties with two hearing offices, it is our understanding that Judge Bowers will be assigned to the workers’ comp hearing office located in Malvern (the other is in Dresher). We wish success to Judge Bowers in her new location.

We just received word from the Pennsylvania Bureau of Workers’ Compensation that, as of May 20, 2014, the Scranton Workers’ Compensation Hearing Office will be moving from 400 Spruce Street, Suite 500 in Scranton, down the street to 321 Spruce Street, 3rd Floor, Scranton. The zip code (and the telephone and fax numbers) will remain the same. Anyone with an active case in the Scranton Office (Central District) should make a note of this change to avoid any issues with locating a hearing, or submitting correspondence.

Sometimes the Pennsylvania Bureau of Workers’ Compensation is hard to figure out. Typically, the hiring or transfer of Workers’ Compensation Judges (WCJs) is done behind the scenes with no formal notice or announcement. We usually discover the news through the grapevine. Indeed, yesterday, a member of the judiciary advised us of some impending transfers and new assignments. Yet, before we could even put pen to (virtual) paper for a blog entry, we were shocked and delighted by the receipt of an e-mail from the Bureau, announcing all of the new WCJ hirings and transfers.

There will be three new WCJs added to the judiciary, all in the Central District. In the Harrisburg Workers’ Compensation Hearing Office, Jeffrey Russell will be the New WCJ. Nathan Pogirski has been added to the bench in the Pottsville Workers’ Compensation Hearing Office, and Daniel Snyder will be taking the bench in the Wilkes-Barre Workers’ Compensation Hearing Office.

Additionally, several WCJs will be transferring to different hearing offices. Judge Kutz will remain in the Central District, moving from Pottsville to Harrisburg. Moving from the Central to the Eastern District, Judge Weyl goes from Harrisburg to Lancaster. Previously in Lancaster, Judge Hetrick will now be in Reading, both in the Eastern District. Also staying in the Eastern District will be Judge Puhala, who moves from Reading to Allentown. Judge Beach leaves the Eastern District’s Allentown office, going to the Philadelphia Workers’ Compensation Hearing Office, located in the Southeastern District. In the Western part of the State, Judge Jones moves from Washington to Pittsburgh, and Judge Santoro journeys across the State, leaving Philadelphia and heading for New Castle.

It is with mixed emotion that we received word of the retirement of Workers’ Compensation Judge (WCJ) Carl Lorine. Judge Lorine was a member of the judiciary in the Upper Darby Workers’ Compensation Hearing Office, which is located in the Southeastern District. Prior to becoming a WCJ, Judge Lorine served as Director of the Pennsylvania Bureau of Workers’ Compensation. We wish Judge Lorine great health and happiness in his retirement, but we will miss his presence on the bench in Delaware County.

When an injured worker in Pennsylvania discovers that it may take a year or more to get a decision in his or her PA workers’ compensation case, the client is often, understandably, distraught. We often explain that our job is to maximize the chances that the case is litigated properly, but we are not able to make it go any faster. This, of course, does not help pay the client’s bills while the litigation continues.

So, we are certainly aware of the hardships that injured workers face while awaiting a decision in their cases. At the same time, we are also aware of what is required in the litigation of a case. In most cases, the injured worker will testify, there will be a deposition from at least one medical expert on each side, and, often, either testimony or a deposition from a fact witness, or a different kind of expert (such as vocational). Once we take all of that evidence, we write briefs (which are anything but “brief”) and then it goes to the Workers’ Compensation Judge (WCJ) to await a decision. Depending on the complexity of the case, this can take well over a year to have all of this completed.

We have been told recently by a few WCJs that the PA Bureau of Workers’ Compensation is now quietly insisting that cases be tried, and decided, within a year. They are labelling this new push as the “Rocket Docket.” While this can have some beneficial aspects, by having cases decided sooner, it also carries significant costs, such as the WCJs rushing cases, or by multiple attorneys having to handle a file due to frequent conflicts (less common with a smaller firm like ours, but still a risk).