S.I. Industries v. Workmen's Compensation Appeal Board

613 A.2d 170, 149 Pa. Commw. 441, 1992 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 513
CourtCommonwealth Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedJuly 29, 1992
DocketNo. 1928 C.D. 1991
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 613 A.2d 170 (S.I. Industries 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
S.I. Industries v. Workmen's Compensation Appeal Board, 613 A.2d 170, 149 Pa. Commw. 441, 1992 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 513 (Pa. Ct. App. 1992).

Opinion

CRAIG, President Judge.

The employer, S.I. Industries, appeals from a decision of the Workmen’s Compensation Appeal Board which affirmed a referee’s decision granting disability benefits to the claimant, Steven E. Zon, pursuant to section 305.2(a) of The Pennsylvania Workmen’s Compensation Act (Act), Act of June 2, 1915, P.L. 736, as amended, 77 P.S. § 411.2(a), which governs [443]*443injuries occurring extraterritorially; i.e., outside of Pennsylvania.

The issues in this case are: (1) whether the contract of hire between the employer and the claimant was made in Pennsylvania, and (2) whether the contract for hire was for employment not principally localized in any state.

The claimant received injuries during the course of his employment with the employer on September 25,1985 at a job site in Piketon, Ohio. Thereafter, the claimant filed a claim petition alleging temporary disability from September 26,1985 to September 30, 1985 and from April 4, 1986 to present.

After a hearing, the referee determined that, although the claimant’s injury occurred in Ohio, the extraterritorial provision of the Act applied to the claimant because the employer hired the claimant in Pennsylvania. On appeal, the board remanded the case for a finding as to whether the claimant’s contract for employment was for employment not principally localized in any state. On remand, the referee adopted the previous referee’s findings of fact. Additionally, the referee found that the claimant worked for the employer under a contract of hire made in Pennsylvania for employment not principally localized in any state. Thereafter, the board affirmed the decision of the referee and this appeal followed.

The facts in this case are as follows. The claimant, who lives in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, testified that he received a telephone call at his home in August, 1985, from Peter McMichael, the superintendent for the employer. The claimant stated that Mr. McMichael, phoning from his Moon Township, Pennsylvania residence, asked the claimant whether he wanted to work for the employer in Piketon, Ohio as a laborer. The claimant agreed to the job, and arrived in Piketon on August 26, 1985. At the job site, the claimant completed documents provided by the employer, including a W-2 form, and commenced working.

On September 25, 1985, the claimant sustained shoulder, head and back injuries when a backhoe struck him and he fell into a ditch. The claimant notified his employer of the injury [444]*444and missed four days of work. Thereafter, the claimant returned to work at the Piketon site until completion of the job on November 16, 1985. Personnel records kept by the employer characterized the claimant’s departure as a termination.

On November 18, 1985, the claimant commenced working for the employer at a site in Springfield, Ohio. The employer required the claimant to complete a new set of documents, and the employer treated the claimant’s employment as a rehiring. The claimant completed his job on December 6, 1985. Again, the employer treated his departure as a termination.

Later, the claimant completed another set of documents for the employer and commenced work on December 10, 1985, in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The employer characterized the claimant’s employment as a rehiring. The employer terminated the claimant’s employment on March 7, 1986, after completion of the Lancaster job.

Thereafter, the claimant filed a petition alleging temporary total disability from September 26,1985 to September 30,1985 and from April 4, 1986 to the present. The employer does not contest the claimant’s disability. Rather, the employer contends that the board erred in affirming the referee’s findings that the claimant worked under a contract of hire made in Pennsylvania for employment not principally localized in any state.

1. Contract

In accordance with the applicable provision of section 305.2 of the Act, the claimant must prove that “at the time of [the] injury: ... (2) He is working under a contract of hire made in this State in employment not principally localized in any state,____” Thus, the first requirement of section 305.2 requires the claimant to prove that the contract for hire was made in Pennsylvania.

In accordance with the Act’s place-of-contract-test, a contract is created wherever the acceptance occurs. Interstate Carriers Cooperative v. Workmen’s Compensation Appeal Board, 66 Pa.Commonwealth Ct. 288, 443 A.2d 1376 [445]*445(1982). In this case, the referee, in determining that the contract for employment occurred in Pennsylvania, relied on the following testimony of the claimant:

Q. How did you find out about that job?
A. Pete McMichaels called me.
Q. He called you from where?
A. From home.
Q. From his house?
A. Yes.
Q. Where does he live?
A. He lives in Moon Township, I think.
Q. Would you repeat the conversation that you and he would enter into when he called you about this job?
A. He asked me if I wanted to go to work for S.I. Industries in Piketon, Ohio and I said yes.
Q. Who does this gentlemen work for?
A. S.I. Industries.
Q. Did you sign any contract?
A. No. I used to work with him before when he had his own company. I worked with him as a laborer. He needed laborers out there and he called me and asked me if I wanted to work and I went to work with him.

Although Mr. McMichael denied the conversation, the referee accepted the claimant’s testimony as credible.

The record supports the referee’s finding that the place where the claimant accepted the employer’s offer of employment was in Pennsylvania. Hence, the claimant has fulfilled the first requirement of section 305.2(a)(2) of the Act.

2. Employment Not Principally Localized in Any State

The second requirement of section 305.2(a)(2) of the Act requires the claimant to prove that he entered into a contract for employment not principally localized in any state.

To determine whether a claimant’s employment is principally localized in this or another state, section 305.2(d)(4) is relevant. This section provides:

[446]*446(4) A person’s employment is principally localized in this or another state when (i) his employer has a place of business in this or such other state and he regularly works at or from such place of business, or (ii) having worked at or from such place of business, his duties have required him to go outside of the State not over one year, or (iii) if clauses (1) and (2) foregoing are not applicable, he is domiciled and spends a substantial part of his working time in the service of his employer in this or such other state.

The record indicates that the employer’s main office is located in Bridgeville, Pennsylvania and that the employer operates in North Carolina, South Carolina, West Virginia and Ohio.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
613 A.2d 170, 149 Pa. Commw. 441, 1992 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 513, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/si-industries-v-workmens-compensation-appeal-board-pacommwct-1992.