Butcher v. Workmen's Compensation Appeal Board

517 A.2d 1023, 102 Pa. Commw. 241
CourtCommonwealth Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedNovember 17, 1986
DocketAppeals, Nos. 1864 C.D. 1985, 1887 C.D. 1985, 2981 C.D. 1985 and 2938 C.D. 1985
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 517 A.2d 1023 (Butcher v. Workmen's Compensation Appeal Board) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Butcher v. Workmen's Compensation Appeal Board, 517 A.2d 1023, 102 Pa. Commw. 241 (Pa. Ct. App. 1986).

Opinion

Opinion by

Judge Palladino,

This case involves cross-appeals from two decisions of the Workmens Compensation Appeal Board (Board) which affirmed-in-part and modified-in-part an amended decision of a referee.

Harry E. Butcher (Claimant) was employed by Treadway Resort Inn (Employer) as a service and dining room manager.1 Claimant sustained a work-related back injury while moving heavy objects in Employers dining room. Claimant filed a Workmen's Compensation Claim Petition on September 17, 1981.

The referee issued a decision, dated January 4, 1984, awarding compensation to Claimant at the full disability rate from June 1, 1981 until August 31, 1981 based on a weekly earning capacity of $171.44.2

[244]*244Thereafter, on January 13, 1984, Claimants counsel sent a letter to the referee alleging: 1) that the referee based the total disability compensation award on Claimants post-injury rather than pre-injury earning capacity, and 2) that the referee foiled to award partial disability compensation although he found a disparity between Claimants pre-injury and post-injury earning capacity.

On January 17, 1984, the referee issued an amended decision. This decision, in substantially the same form as the first decision, awarded partial disability compensation based on the differential between Claimants preinjury and post-injury wages. These partial disability payments were to begin “September 7, 1983,3 continuing to the present and into an indefinite future.” (Emphasis added.) The referee did not, however, correct the full disability compensation rate nor did he make any findings of feet as to partial disability.

On cross-appeal to the Board, Claimant asserted that the amount of total disability compensation was in error and that the September 7, 1983 commencement date of partial disability compensation should have been September 1, 1981. The Employer asserted that the amended decision of the referee was “null, void and without validity as said decision was issued without the concurrence of the parties and in violation of Title 34, Pa. Code, Section 131.67”.

By Order dated June 14, 1985, the Board modified the commencement date of partial disability stating:

We find merit for that portion of the appeal concerning the commencement date of partial disability. Compensation for partial disability should [245]*245commence on the day after total disability ceases which is August 31, 1983. Therefore, the claimant is entitled to compensation for partial disability for the period September 1 to September 7, 1983 and, to that extent, the referees order is hereby modified. . . . We find no merit in Claimants contention that the referee misconstrued or misapplied the proper amount of compensation for partial disability.4 (Emphasis added.)

Both Claimant and Employer filed appeals in this Court from the June 14, 1985 decision of the Board. In the interim, on October 4, 1985, the Board issued an amended opinion correcting the commencement date for partial disability to September 1, 1981 and affirming the decision of the referee. Both parties have again appealed to this Court. All four appeals have been consolidated for disposition herein.5

In a workmens compensation case where the party with the burden of proof prevailed before the referee and the Board took no additional evidence, the scope of [246]*246review of the Commonwealth Court is to determine whether constitutional rights were violated, an error of law was committed or necessary findings of feet were unsupported by substantial evidence. Peer v. Workmen's Compensation Appeal Board (B&W Construction), 94 Pa. Commonwealth Ct. 540, 503 A.2d 1096 (1986).

The appeals of the parties can be summarized as follows: Employer alleges that the referees amended decision is null, void and without validity as issued in violation of 34 Pa. Code §131.67. Employer further alleges that the first decision of the referee is supported by substantial evidence and should be affirmed as there is no basis for awarding partial disability benefits to Claimant. The Claimant alleges that the amount of total disability compensation has been miscalculated, that the commencement date for partial disability is in error, and that he is entitled to an award for attorney fees for the appeal to this Court. We will treat each issue in order.

Employer first contends that the referees amended decision is “null, void and without validity” as it was issued in violation of Section 67 of the Special Rules of Administrative Practice and Procedure Before Referees, 34 Pa. Code §131.67. We agree.

In relevant part 34 Pa. Code §131.67 states: “(a) General rule: Any decision and order of a referee may be amended or corrected by the referee subsequent to the circulation of the decision and order, but only if requested within the appeal period and only upon the written agreement of all parties in interest.” (Emphasis added.) By letter dated January 13, 1984, Claimant requested that, pursuant to 34 Pa. Code §131.67, the referee amend and/or correct his January 4, 1985 decision. On January 17, 1985, the referee, without securing the written agreement of the parties as contemplated by 34 [247]*247Pa. Code §131.67,6 amended his January 4, 1984 decision and granted partial disability compensation to Claimant. He did not, however, adjust the amount of total disability compensation.

Although Claimant specifically made his request for amendment and/or correction pursuant to 34 Pa. Code §131.67, he now urges that our decision in Drozd v. Workmen's Compensation Appeal Board, 86 Pa. Commonwealth Ct. 364, 485 A.2d 96 (1984), allows the referee to modify his decision, at any time, in order to correct an error. Claimant misapprehends the import of Drozd.

In Drozd, we were faced with an appeal from an order of the Board affirming a referees dismissal of Drozds petition for modification of an award for total disability under Section 413 of The Pennsylvania Workmen's Compensation Act (Act), Act of June 2, 1915, P.L. 736, as amended, 77 P.S. §§771 and 772.7 Mr. Drozd alleged a miscalculation of the amount of total disability compensation and the referee dismissed his modification petition because it was to correct an “award” and not a “notice of compensation payable” or an “agreement” as contemplated by the statute.

Drozd stands for the proposition that a referee, when faced with a petition for modification under Sec[248]*248tion 413 of the Act, may modify a workmens compensation award to correct mistakes in the mechanical application of the statute.8 It is not applicable to the case at bar for the following reasons: 1) The case at bar concerns a request for correction and/or amendment under 34 Pa.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
517 A.2d 1023, 102 Pa. Commw. 241, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/butcher-v-workmens-compensation-appeal-board-pacommwct-1986.