Commonwealth Court

Pennsylvania Employee injured while running in parking lot not granted workers’ compensation

There are cases now and then that involve the argument of 'course and scope', meaning, did the injury occur in the course and scope of employment.  Over the years, Pennsylvania Courts have reduced gray areas of the law involving course and scope arguments.  Recently, the Commonwealth Court issued an opinion, in Quality Bicycle Products v. WCAB (Shaw), No. 1570 C.D. 2015 (Cmwlth Ct., 2016), further defining the elements of the course and scope test. In Quality Bicycle Products, a Claimant…

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Commonwealth Court Reaffirms Residency Does Not Provide Jurisdiction in Workers Compensation

Recently, the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court, once again, addressed the issue of state jurisdiction over a workers compensation claim. In this case, a Pennsylvania resident was injured in an auto accident in New Jersey, while working for a trucking company based out of Alabama.  During the pendency of the claim, the Claimant was receiving workers compensation benefits through the state of Alabama.   When the Claimant applied for his position, he testified that he completed an online application at his home…

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Pennsylvania Store Manager Trying To Stop A Theft Awarded Workers Compensation Benefits

A Pennsylvania gas station store manager who suffered a traumatic brain injury when attempting to foil a store theft, has been awarded workers compensation benefits in a decision by the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court.   The decision by the Court overturned the Pennsylvania Workers Compensation Appeal Board's (WCAB) decision to deny the store manager benefits.  Here are the facts of what happened. Wetzel was working at a BP store near Pittsburgh when a theft bid occurred in November 2009. He chased…

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Liquor Store Robbery is Not a Normal Working Condition

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has handed down a ruling that post-traumatic distress disorder suffered by an employee of a Pennsylvania state liquor store, as a result of an armed robbery, is in fact a compensable work injury.  The decision reverses a 2011 decision by the Commonwealth Court that denied workers compensation benefits. The case revolved around the issue of whether working conditions, such as a robbery at a state store, would be either foreseeable or could have been anticipated.  …

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