Harper & Collins v. Workmen's Compensation Appeal Board

672 A.2d 1319, 543 Pa. 484, 1996 Pa. LEXIS 549
CourtSupreme Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedApril 2, 1996
Docket18 Western District Appeal Docket 1995
StatusPublished
Cited by73 cases

This text of 672 A.2d 1319 (Harper & Collins v. Workmen's Compensation Appeal Board) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Harper & Collins v. Workmen's Compensation Appeal Board, 672 A.2d 1319, 543 Pa. 484, 1996 Pa. LEXIS 549 (Pa. 1996).

Opinions

OPINION

NIX, Chief Justice.

Appellant, Harper & Collins, appeals from the Order of the Commonwealth Court which affirmed the Order of the Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board (“Board”) upholding the decision of the referee. The referee awarded Appellee, Rachael Brown, benefits pursuant to the Workers’ Compensation Act, Act of June 4, 1937, P.L. 1552, § 1 (codified as amended at 77 P.S. §§ 1-1603) (“the Act”) for a partial disability. This Court granted review to address the issue of whether the Act provides for the payment of partial disability benefits to an injured employee after she returns to a light duty position earning the same hourly rate as she was paid prior to her injury but less than her average weekly wage as calculated at the time of her injury due to the unavailability of overtime for all employees. For the reasons that follow, we affirm the Order of the Commonwealth Court.

On August 12, 1991, Appellee suffered an injury in the course of her employment. The parties executed a Notice of Compensation Payable, and Appellee began receiving weekly [487]*487total disability benefits in the amount of $427.12 based on her average weekly wage of $640.68. On March 2, 1992, Appellee remained physically unable to resume her pre-injury position but returned to a light duty position which paid the same hourly rate as she had been paid in her pre-injury position. Upon returning to this light duty position, Appellee signed a supplemental agreement which suspended her benefits until her average weekly wage could be determined. Later that month, Appellee filed a Petition for Review claiming a loss of earnings as of the date she returned to work in her light duty position. The parties entered into a stipulation of facts agreeing that prior to Appellee’s work injury, overtime was available and this overtime accounted for Appellee’s average weekly wage being $640.68. Appellee further stipulated that the difference between her earnings in her light duty position and her pre-injury position was due to economic conditions which made overtime unavailable and not her work-related disability.

The referee concluded that Appellant was entitled to partial disability benefits because upon her return to work her wages were less than her average weekly wage at the time of her injury. Brown v. Harper & Row, No. 207-46-1656, Conclusion of Law No. 2 (Oct. 7, 1992).1 The Board affirmed the referee’s Order, holding that Appellee’s situation is not distinguishable from that of an employee who remains partially disabled and therefore is entitled to total benefits even though the employer ceases operations. Brown v. Harper & Row, No. A92-2702 (Workers’ Compensation Appeal Bd. Aug. 10, 1993).

The Commonwealth Court, citing this Court’s decision in Pieper v. Ametek-Thermox Instruments Div., 526 Pa. 25, 584 A.2d 301 (1990), upheld the referee’s determination that Appellee is entitled to partial disability benefits. Harper & Collins v. Workmen’s Compensation Appeal Bd. (Brown), 162 Pa.Commw. 461, 639 A.2d 890 (1994). It noted that “the [488]*488parties have stipulated that, upon returning to work, [Appel-lee] suffered a loss of earnings from her pre-injury average weekly wage. Under Pieper ... the referee properly ordered partial disability benefits.” Id. at 464, 639 A.2d at 891. The Commonwealth Court further rejected Appellant’s argument that section 5122 of the Act precludes the award of partial disability benefits. According to the Commonwealth Court, the wage comparison referred to in section 512 must be made at the time the employee in question was injured. Id. at 465, 639 A.2d at 892. “Thus, the relevant average weekly wage here is the wage at the time of [Appellee]’s injury, when [Appellant] regularly provided its employees with overtime work.” Id.

This Court granted Appellant’s request for review to determine whether Appellee was properly awarded partial disability benefits where the difference between her average weekly wage at the time of her injury and the wage she presently earns in her light duty position is the result of Appellant’s ehmination of overtime hours for all of its employees. We now affirm the decision of the Commonwealth Court.

Appellant argues that Appellee was improperly awarded partial disability benefits because the hourly pay rate she receives in her light duty position is equal to the hourly pay rate she received in her pre-injury position. Although Appel-lee is now receiving less income than she was receiving prior to her injury, Appellant notes that this is the result of an economic slowdown which affected the ability of all employees to earn overtime pay. As additional support for its argument, Appellant points to the stipulation entered into by the parties [489]*489agreeing that Appellee was not prevented from performing overtime because of her injury and that her reduction in earnings resulted from economic conditions at Appellant’s plant. According to Appellant, Appellee failed to meet her burden of proof that her loss in earnings had any relation to her disability as required by this Court’s decision in Pieper v. Ametek-Thermox Instruments Div., 526 Pa. 25, 584 A.2d 301 (1990). Appellant further argues that section 7723 of the Act prevents the award of partial disability benefits to Appellee as her loss in earnings is not related to her disability.

It is Appellee’s position that she is entitled to partial disability benefits because she continues to suffer residual impairment which is related to her work injury and is presently experiencing a loss of earnings through no fault of her own. Appellee cites section 512 of the Act in support of her argument that her earning power upon returning to work in a light duty position, the amount she actually receives each week, is less than her pre-injury average weekly wage. Appellee additionally notes that the supplemental agreement entered into upon her return to work creates a presumption that her residual physical disability is causally related to her work injury. In light of the foregoing, Appellee contends that the Commonwealth Court was correct in affirming the Order of the Board.

In reviewing matters under the Act, this Court is limited to making a determination as to whether there was a violation of constitutional rights, whether there was an error of law, or whether there was substantial evidence to support [490]*490the findings of fact. Gumro v. Workmen’s Compensation Appeal Bd., 533 Pa. 461, 466, 626 A.2d 94, 97 (1993). We also note that the Act is remedial in nature and that its purpose is to benefit the workers of this Commonwealth. As such, the Act is to be liberally construed to effectuate its humanitarian objectives. Krawchuk v. Philadelphia Elec. Co., 497 Pa. 115, 120, 439 A.2d 627, 630 (1981). Moreover, borderline interpretations of the Act are to be construed in the injured party’s favor. Turner v. Jones & Lawghlin Steel Corp., 479 Pa.

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Bluebook (online)
672 A.2d 1319, 543 Pa. 484, 1996 Pa. LEXIS 549, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/harper-collins-v-workmens-compensation-appeal-board-pa-1996.