Justia Pennsylvania Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

The International Association of Firefighters, Local 293, AFL-CIO (Union) is the exclusive bargaining representative of a unit of firefighters and other personnel employed by the City of Erie (City). While the City and the Union negotiated several previous collective bargaining agreements, the agreement at issue in this appeal was for the period from January 1, 2005 to December 31, 2007. The issue before the Court was whether the City committed an unfair labor practice when it unilaterally eliminated firefighter pension benefits which were found to be legal, without first collectively bargaining with the firefighters' representative. The Collective Bargaining by Policemen and Firemen Act, (Act 111), by its express terms, requires negotiation over the modification or elimination of pension benefits. Upon review, the Supreme Court found no applicable exception to this statutory mandate. Thus, the Court reversed the order of the Commonwealth Court which held to the contrary. View "City of Erie v. Pa. Labor Relations Board" on Justia Law

Consolidating several appeals, the Supreme Court addressed the effect of a municipality's financial distress and recovery planning on an arbitration award agreed to pursuant to the Policemen and Firemen Collective Bargaining Act (Act). For approximately twenty years, the City of Scranton has been designated a distressed municipality under the Municipalities Financial Recovery Act. Pursuant to the Recovery Act, the City has its Commonwealth-mandated financial advisors who assist in creating a financial recovery plan (essentially a budget). In the most recent collective bargaining agreements between the City of Scranton and its Police and Firefighter Unions expired at the close of 2002. Negotiations as to future terms and work conditions for union members resulted in impasses. Accordingly, pursuant to the Act, arbitrators were selected to establish appropriate terms and conditions. Throughout the arbitrations, the City maintained that the arbitrators lacked legal authority to award relief impinging on the City's financial recovery plan. The City attempted to resist paying the ensuing award that resulted from the arbitration. The Commonwealth Court found that it was required to vacate the awards, holding that they did not conform to the City's Recovery Plan and would result in increased financial and operational burdens on an already distressed municipality. The Unions appealed to the Supreme Court. The Court focused on the distinction between the terms "arbitration award" and "arbitration settlement": the City argued that it was not mandated to pay "awards" but "settlements." The Supreme Court found the term "settlement" ambiguous, and the plain meaning could include the "award" given by the arbitrators in this case. Accordingly, the Court reversed the Commonwealth Court's order that the award negatively impacted the City's Recovery Plan. View "City of Scranton v. Firefighters Local Union" on Justia Law

At issue before the Supreme Court was whether an opinion rendered by a medical expert was sufficient to rebut the presumption of disease causation under the Pennsylvania Workers' Compensation Act. Joseph Kriebel worked for the City of Philadelphia as a firefighter from 1974 to 2003. He died in 2004 from liver disease caused by hepatitis C. His widow Appellant Patricia Kriebel, filed a claim petition under the Act in 2005, alleging that her husband contracted hepatitis C in the course of his employment. Appellant sought to raise the presumption of occupational exposure. In support of her claim, Appellant presented the testimony of her husband's treating physician. The City rebutted the presumption of disease causation with testimony of its own medical expert. Upon review, the Supreme Court held that an expert's opinion does not constitute substantial competent evidence where it is based on a series of assumptions that lack the necessary factual predicate. Since the medical opinions in this case were based on unfounded suppositions, they were legally insufficient to overcome the presumption of disease causation. The Supreme Court reversed the Commonwealth Court that held that the City overcame the presumption with its' medical expert's testimony, and reinstated the order of the superior court which held in favor of Appellant. View "City of Philadelphia v. Workers' Comp. Appeal Bd." on Justia Law

Appellant Anne Marie Morack worked for Appellee Gentex Corporation for over thirty years. In 2005, she left when swelling and pain in her hands were too overwhelming for her to continue work. She sought medical help, and notified her employer of the pain. In early 2005, Appellant applied for short-term disability, noting on her application for benefits that she did not believe her injury was work-related. After consultation with a specialist, Appellee learned that her injury was work-related. Gentex ultimately appealed the Workers' Compensation Appeal Board's decision granting Appellant's claim to the Commonwealth Court, contending that Appellant did not timely notify her supervisor of the injury nor aptly describe the injury to comply with the state workers' compensation act. The Commonwealth Court reversed, finding Appellant did not aptly describe her injury nor give Gentex adequate notice. The Supreme Court granted allocatur to determine what constitutes sufficient notice under the Act, and to "speak to" an employer's duty to conduct reasonable investigations into the circumstances surrounding a work-related injury. Under the Act, notice is a prerequisite to receive workers' compensation benefits, and the claimant bears the burden of demonstrating that proper notice was given. Upon review of the applicable case law in this instance, the Court found that, "consistent with the humanitarian purposes of the Act, [the Court] made it clear that even imperfect notice can satisfy" its strictures. The Court employed a "totality of the circumstances" approach to determining whether Appellant in this case both satisfied the notice and description of the injury in making her claim for benefits. In reversing the Commonwealth Court, the Supreme Court found that Appellant's collective communications with Gentex satisfied the notification requirements of the Act. View "Gentex Corp v. Workers' Compensation Appeals Bd." on Justia Law

Claimant Kevin Ressler suffered a work-related injury in 1995. He received Workers' Compensation benefits. In 2004, Claimant submitted to an independent medical evaluation (IME). The sequence of events since the IME make up the heart of this appeal. In June 2004, Claimant had surgery related with his work-related injury. In July 2004, his employer petitioned to terminate benefits as of the date of the IME. The employer also requested a supersedeas. The Workers' Compensation Judge (WCJ) denied the superseadas in August 2004. In October of that year, the insurer received the invoice for the June surgery and paid the amount by the end of January, 2005. In June 2005, the WCJ granted the employer's petition to terminate benefits. The Workers' Compensation Appeal Bard (WCAB) affirmed that decision. The insurer then requested reimbursement for the 2004 surgery from the Supersedeas Fund. The Bureau of Workers' Compensation challenged the request because Claimant's surgery predated the supersedeas request. The WCJ found that no obligation to pay arose until the bill was submitted to the insurer in October 2004. Because the obligation to pay arose after the denial of supersedeas, reimbursement was appropriate. The WCAB affirmed. The issue of whether the Supersedeas Fund may deny reimbursement of treatment rendered before the insurer requested supersedeas came before the Supreme Court. Upon review of the trial record and the Workers' Compensation Act, the Court concluded that the lower courts appropriately ordered reimbursement to the insurer for undue payments made after the supersedeas request and in direct response to the earlier denial. The Court affirmed the lower court's decision. View "Bur. of Workers' Comp., Aplt v. WCAB" on Justia Law

The Commonwealth Court declined to issue a writ of mandamus to Appellant Crozer Chester Medical Center (Crozer) in its attempt to force the Department of Labor and Industry (Department) to reimburse it for medical fees. Claimant William Radel suffered a work-related injury while lifting a bundle of rebar for his employer. The claimant underwent surgery at Crozer, and Crozer sent claimant's records and the bill to claimant's insurance company, Zurich North American Insurance (Zurich). Zurich did not pay, nor did it deny the claim. Crozer then turned to the State for reimbursement. The Department rejected the application as "premature," because Zurich's non-payment made an "outstanding issue of liability/compensability for the alleged injury." Crozer then petitioned the Commonwealth Court to force the Department to pay. The Supreme Court agreed that Crozer's application for reimbursement was premature. The Court found that Crozer did not try to resolve Zurich's nonpayment before petitioning the State or the Commonwealth Court. The Court affirmed the decision of the Department and the lower court, and dismissed Crozer's petition for a writ of mandamus.

Appellant, the Pennsylvania State Troopers Association, appeals a portion of the opinion and order issued by the Commonwealth Court that invalidated a provision of âAct 111â that addressed the pay state troopers are to receive while on âunion leave.â A collective bargaining agreement (CBA) was set to expire in 2008. When the parties reached an impasse in their negotiations for a new CBA, the Association requested arbitration pursuant to Act 111. After a hearing, the Act 111 Panel entered an award concerning several issues, including the issue of payment to troopers while on âunion leave.â The Commonwealth appealed the arbitration award to the Commonwealth Court. The Court vacated the union leave provision of the award. On appeal to the Supreme Court, the Commonwealth argued that the union leave provision of the award violated the State Employeesâ Retirement Code (SERC). The Supreme Court held that the union leave provision did not violate SERC, and that arbitration award was within the authority of the arbitration panel to award. Because arbitration awards issued pursuant to Act 111 are final and binding on the parties with no appeal permitted to any court, the Supreme Court reversed the Commonwealth Courtâs decision to the extent it contradicted the holding of this case.