NGK Metals Corp. v. Workers' Compensation Appeal Board

758 A.2d 738, 2000 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 411
CourtCommonwealth Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedJuly 18, 2000
StatusPublished

This text of 758 A.2d 738 (NGK Metals Corp. v. Workers' 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
NGK Metals Corp. v. Workers' Compensation Appeal Board, 758 A.2d 738, 2000 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 411 (Pa. Ct. App. 2000).

Opinion

RODGERS, Senior Judge.

NGK Metals Corporation (Employer) petitions for review of an order of the Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board (Board) that affirmed the decision of a workers’ compensation judge (WCJ) that granted benefits for a complete loss of hearing to August Miller (Claimant).

On December 22, 1993, Claimant filed a claim petition alleging that he sustained a complete loss of hearing for all practical intents and purposes as a result of his cumulative exposure to loud noise during the period of time he worked for Employer from June of 1951 until his retirement in December of 1992. Employer denied the allegations and the case was assigned to a WCJ.

Following the submission of evidence by both parties,1 and based on the credible [739]*739testimony of Claimant and his witnesses, the WCJ issued his decision on May 22, 1995, granting benefits to Claimant for 260 weeks with an additional 10 week healing period. Although the record before the WCJ closed prior to the enactment of the hearing loss amendments to the Workers’ Compensation Act (Act),2 the WCJ’s decision was not issued until almost three months after Act l’s enactment. Employer appealed to the Board and requested a supersedeas. Notably, the WCJ’s decision was issued at the time this Court was considering the retroactive application in Bible.3 On July 5, 1995, the supersedeas was denied and Employer requested a stay pursuant to this Court’s order allowing stays in pending cases until a decision in Bible was reached.

On August 6, 1997, following the Supreme Court’s June 13, 1997 decision in Bible v. Department of Labor and Industry, 548 Pa. 247, 696 A.2d 1149 (1997), the Board vacated the WCJ’s decision and remanded the case for an adjudication consistent with the Act 1 provisions. However, on September 3, 1997, Claimant filed a petition for review with this Court, alleging that the remand order was improper. After the petition was quashed as interlocutory, Claimant requested a rehearing before the Board, which was granted. The Board’s earlier remand order was withdrawn. The Board then considered the merits of Employer’s appeal4 and affirmed the WCJ’s original decision. The Board stated that “since Claimant’s Petition involved a claim for the total (i.e.eomplete) loss of hearing, and the WCJ subsequently found a total loss of hearing, the Act 1 amendments and Bible were inapplicable.” (Board’s decision, December 28, 1999, p. 9).

Employer now appeals to this Court,5 and argues that the American Medical Association Impairment Guides (AMA Guides) mandated by Act 1 should be applied to this case because the amendments themselves dictate retroactivity.6 Em[740]*740ployer also relies on the Supreme Court’s decision in Bible, which held that the application of the 1995 amendments was not constitutionally infirm when applied “to all claims existing as of the effective date of this act for which compensation has not been paid or awarded.” Id. at 252, 696 A.2d at 1151.

Employer further cites Drop v. Workmen’s Compensation Appeal Board (U.S. Steel Mining Co.), 548 Pa. 262, 696 A.2d 1157 (1997), a decision filed by the Supreme Court on the same day it filed Bible. The Supreme Court in Drop held that the Act 1 amendments applied even though the claimant’s appeal from a denial of benefits had reached the briefing stage before Commonwealth Court. The Drop court stated that “it was the manifest intention of the general Assembly that the changes to the Workers’ Compensation Act be applied to existing claims ‘for which compensation has not been paid or awarded,’....” Id. at 265, 696 A.2d at 1158.

To counter Employer’s argument, Claimant quotes the following from the Bible decision:

Application of the new standards to cases where no award had yet been made also represented a rational means of implementing a legitimate purpose. Had the changes been made applicable only to claims filed after the effective date of the Act, claimants who were aware of the pending legislation would have been able to obtain an advantage over those who were not. By filing a claim before the Act became effective, such claimants could “lock in” the opportunity to seek a full 260 weeks of benefits for hearing loss that, under the new standards, would merit a shorter period of benefits. We cannot say that the means chosen to avoid this potential windfall to some claimants was irrational.

Id. at 262, 696 A.2d at 1156. Although recognizing the import of the Bible court’s reasoning, Claimant attempts to distinguish his intent when filing his claim in 1993. He asserts that he did not file his claim to gain an advantage; rather, the entire proceeding was litigated pursuant to the pre-amendment law. Claimant further asserts that by allowing Act 1 to be applied to this case, Employer is gaining the advantage, while Claimant is unfairly penalized.

Claimant also notes that the Bible decision rested on the determination that the retroactive application did not impair a claimant’s right to compensation for hearing loss; it only varied the remedy. However, Claimant believes that his rights have been impaired, because the record in his case was closed prior to Act l’s enactment, leaving only the date of the WCJ’s decision as the basis for the application of new law.

Nevertheless, we are bound to follow the legislature’s directive in Section 3(2) of Act 1 and the holdings in Bible and Drop. The statute and case law require the application of Act 1 to Claimant’s case, because he had not yet received payment or an award of compensation prior to the effect date of Act 1. Therefore, we reverse the Board’s order to the extent that it affirms the grant of benefits for 260 weeks. We direct the payment of benefits according to the stipulation entered into by the parties that Claimant suffered a bin-aural hearing impairment of 24.4% as calculated pursuant to the AMA guides.

Employer’s second issue concerns the WCJ’s grant of a 10-week healing period. Employer argues that pursuant to Section 306(c)(25) of the Act, 77 P.S. § 513(25),7 a claimant may be entitled to [741]*741an appropriate healing period, but only to the extent that a claimant suffers a lessening of his or her earning capacity or was forced to retire due the hearing impairment. Employer relies on Sellari v. Workmen’s Compensation Appeal Board (NGK Metals Corp.), 698 A.2d 1372 (Pa.Cmwlth.1997),8 to support its argument that a remand is necessary to allow for the presentation of evidence to rebut the presumption that the specific loss entitles the claimant to the healing period prescribed in Section 306(c)(25). Employer contends that because no decisions clarifying the Sun Oil Co. v. Workmen’s Compensation Appeal Board (Davis), 144 Pa.Cmwlth. 51, 600 A.2d 684 (1991),9

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Bible v. COM., DEPT. OF LABOR AND IND.
696 A.2d 1149 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1997)
General Electric Co. v. Workers' Compensation Appeal Board
737 A.2d 852 (Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, 1999)
Anastasio v. Workmen's Compensation Appeal Board (NGK Metals Corp.)
713 A.2d 116 (Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, 1997)
Sun Oil Co. v. Workmen's Compensation Appeal Board
600 A.2d 684 (Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, 1991)
Bible v. Commonwealth, Department of Labor & Industry
663 A.2d 837 (Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, 1995)
Bible v. Commonwealth, Department of Labor & Industry
696 A.2d 1149 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1997)
Drop v. Workmen's Compensation Appeal Board
696 A.2d 1157 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1997)
NGK Metals Corp. v. Workmen's Compensation Appeal Board
698 A.2d 1365 (Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, 1997)
Sellari v. Workmen's Compensation Appeal Board
698 A.2d 1372 (Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, 1997)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
758 A.2d 738, 2000 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 411, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ngk-metals-corp-v-workers-compensation-appeal-board-pacommwct-2000.