Shaffer v. Workmen's Compensation Appeal Board

621 A.2d 1125, 153 Pa. Commw. 430, 1993 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 81
CourtCommonwealth Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedFebruary 10, 1993
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 621 A.2d 1125 (Shaffer 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
Shaffer v. Workmen's Compensation Appeal Board, 621 A.2d 1125, 153 Pa. Commw. 430, 1993 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 81 (Pa. Ct. App. 1993).

Opinion

NARICK, Senior Judge.

Orval W. Shaffer (Claimant) and Hollenback Township (Employer) filed cross-appeals from an order of the Workmen’s Compensation Appeal Board (Board) that affirmed the referee’s decision with modifications. We affirm.

Claimant sustained a work-related injury to his right wrist while working as a part-time truck driver/laborer for Employer on July 8, 1983. The injury occurred when a co-worker struck Claimant’s wrist with a chain saw. Claimant’s injury did not result in lost wages; and medical bills incurred at the time were paid by Employer’s insurance carrier.

On June 19, 1986, Claimant filed a claim petition seeking payment of additional medical bills, attributing them to his work-related injury. Claimant’s petition stated that no claim for compensation was being made. Employer responded that Claimant’s present condition was not work-related.

[433]*433Then, by letter dated July 21, 1986, Claimant sought to amend his petition to include a claim for wage loss benefits.1 The referee denied the request to amend, finding that the three-year statute of limitations set forth in Section 315 of the Pennsylvania Workmen’s Compensation Act (Act)2 barred the request for wage loss benefits. However, upon finding that the additional medical bills resulted from the work-related injury, the referee ordered Employer to reimburse Claimant for reasonable and necessary medical expenses, reimbursement of reasonable costs, and counsel fees.

Employer appealed the award of costs of suit, but agreed to pay any future medical bills related to Claimant’s injury. Claimant appealed the denial of wage loss benefits on the basis that the claim had not been time-barred and that his present lost earnings resulted from his work-related injury. The Board reversed, concluding that Section 315 of the Act did not bar Claimant’s request for compensation, and remanded to allow evidence on the issue of compensation, i.e., whether Claimant lost time from work due to his injury and was entitled to wage loss benefits, or whether wage loss benefits should be suspended because Claimant’s injury did not result in a loss of earnings.

Although the Employer continued to argue that Claimant’s petition for compensation was untimely, the referee, bound by the Board’s decision that the amendment was timely, formulated the following pertinent findings of fact on the issue of wage loss benefit entitlement:

10. The claimant suffers from pain in his wrist and has difficulty performing daily activities with his wrist.
11. The claimant testified on two occasions in this matter, November 7, 1986, and March 14, 1990. Although the record establishes that the claimant was employed as a truck driver and laborer with the employer, there is no testimony of record that indicates any of the claimant’s job duties. However, the history given to Dr. Aquilina by the [434]*434claimant was that the claimant was a supervisor, and did not have to perform any heavy lifting or carrying.... The record is also not clear as to why the claimant did not work after 1984, although the claimant indicated in his testimony that he was not called back to work at that time. In the history given to Dr. Byron by the claimant in November of 1986, the claimant reported that he retired from his position to care for his wife.
12. The claimant continued working after his work-related injury on July 8, 1983, never received any compensation, and there is no evidence that the claimant sought the services of a physician for his work-related injury before April 18, 1986....
* * * * 'Jfi *
14. ... All of the physicians who testified in this matter have acknowledged that the claimant has a problem with his right wrist, but not one of the physicians has offered any testimony with respect to the claimant’s limitations as a result of his injury, or with respect to whether the claimant can engage in any type of gainful employment, including the claimant’s former employment with the employer, Hallenback Township.
15. ... However, in the case at bar there is no evidence in this record with respect to the claimant’s prior duties other than driving a truck, and there is a conspicuous absence of any testimony from the three physicians with respect to the claimant’s limitations and/or ability to perform gainful employment. Therefore, if I were to make a finding in this matter that the claimant was unable to engage in his former employment as a laborer, I would have to substitute my judgment for that of a physician, which I am not permitted to do.

Based upon the findings of fact, the referee concluded that:

1. Pursuant to the Board’s Order in this matter, the claimant timely filed his request for the payment of compensation benefits.
2. The claimant has failed to show that his benefits should be suspended on a ex-post-facto basis immediately after his [435]*435work-related accident on July 8, 1983, as he returned to his usual employment, received no compensation and was not treated for his work-related injury until April 18, 1986.
3. The claimant has failed to establish in the record the job duties of his former position -with the Township, and has failed to establish through the medical evidence of record that he is physically unable to perform his former employment with the employer, or any other employment.
4. The claimant has failed to meet his burden of proving that his condition has worsened to the point that he is physically unable of performing his former position with the employer, or any other employment.

Again both parties appealed to the Board. Claimant alleged that several findings were not supported by substantial evidence and that Conclusion Nos. 2, 3 and 4 were errors of law. Employer alleged that Conclusion No. 1 is was in error. Again the Board determined that Claimant’s petition, filed within the three year statute of limitations period, entitled Claimant to all benefits under the Act to which he established eligibility. The Board also concluded that Claimant failed to establish that his work-related injury prevented him from being able to perform his pre-injury job. Citing Hawkins v. Workmen’s Compensation Appeal Board (Medical College of Pennsylvania), 138 Pa.Commonwealth Ct. 180, 587 A.2d 387 (1991), the Board concluded that “a suspension of benefits is the appropriate remedy where medical disability exists but does not manifest itself in a loss of earning power.” Id. at 185, 587 A.2d at 390. Therefore, the Board modified the referee’s order, stating that Claimant’s benefits, other than medical and litigation expenses, were suspended.

Both parties appealed to this Court.3 Employer again raises the timeliness issue; and Claimant argues that the Board erred in suspending benefits and that sufficient evi[436]*436dence in the record establishes that his work-related injury prevents him from performing his job.

On the issue of timeliness, Mauger and Co. v. Workmen’s Compensation Appeal Board (Waltz), 143 Pa.Commonwealth Ct.

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Bluebook (online)
621 A.2d 1125, 153 Pa. Commw. 430, 1993 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 81, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/shaffer-v-workmens-compensation-appeal-board-pacommwct-1993.