Pennsylvania Workers' Compensation Case Studies

The court held that the workers' compensation judge erred in suspending a claimant's benefits based solely on her move to Nevada and her receipt of a disability pension as there was no other evidence or findings to support the determination that she had permanently removed herself from the workforce; [2]-The court held that a claimant's relocation was specifically contemplated by and provided for in the Workers' Compensation Act.

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Because a restaurant franchisor's main business was the sale of franchises to buyers desiring to use its name and expertise, rather than the actual operation of restaurants, the work performed by a franchisee in operating a restaurant was not a regular or recurrent part of the franchisor's business, occupation, profession, or trade within the meaning of Pennsylvania Workers' Compensation Act.

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The Workers' Compensation Appeal Board properly upheld a portion of a workers' compensation judge's (WCJ) determination that a claimant's right-knee replacement surgery and related treatment were compensable medical expenses that were related to her second work injury, based on substantial and competent medical testimony from her treating physician, as the weight and credibility of the physician's testimony was within the WCJ's determination.

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The WCJ properly suspended petitioner's TTD benefits; because the physician who performed an IME testified that petitioner could perform the modified position the employer offered to him, the employer met its burden of proving that it was entitled to have petitioner's benefits suspended under 77 Pa. Stat. Ann. § 774.2, and the WCJ's finding that petitioner failed to meet his burden to prove he made a good-faith attempt to return to work was supported by the record.

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In a workers' compensation case, because a physician's credited medical opinions established that the claimant had reached maximum medical improvement in accordance with the American Medical Association Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment, the employer's modification petition was not based on an invalid impairment rating evaluation under 77

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Thomas Dougherty (Claimant) petitions for review of an order of the Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board (Board), which affirmed the decision of a Workers’ Compensation Judge (WCJ) dismissing Claimant’s reinstatement petition under Section 413(a) of the Workers’ Compensation Act.

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Joseph Simko (Claimant) petitions for review of the April 22, 2014, order of the Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board (WCAB) reversing the decision of a workers’ compensation judge (WCJ) to grant Claimant’s claim petition.

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An employer may be entitled to a suspension of benefits if it proves that the injured worker, off of work and receiving disability benefits, has voluntarily withdrawn from the workforce.

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The Village at Palmerton Assisted Living (Employer) petitions for review of an Order of the Workers' Compensation Appeal Board (Board) affirming the Decision of the Workers' Compensation Judge.

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In this case, the employer had appealed, contending that Mr. Walshesky was not in the course and scope of his employment when the injury occurred. The claim petition alleged a “head injury which caused a left sided stroke from his shoulder to his foot.”

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