The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania recently ruled that a Chartwell client was entitled to recovery for Workers’ Compensation benefits from an employee who won a third-party settlement.
A Pennsylvania resident was injured in a motor vehicle accident while in Delaware as part of her employment and received Workers’ Compensation benefits pursuant to the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Act. She then filed a third-party action, in Delaware, against the Delaware driver and received a $160,000.00 settlement. The employer and insurance company (together, Employer) filed a Review Petition, asserting that they were entitled to subrogation.
The Judge granted the Review Petition and directed the employee Claimant to pay the employer $101,381.94. The Appeal Board affirmed, and the Claimant then petitioned Commonwealth Court for review.
Reasoning that the Board properly determined that Pennsylvania law applies here and that the employer met its burden of proving its entitlement to subrogation, Commonwealth Court affirmed the decisions below. In its opinion, the Court cited the authoritative treatise, Workers’ Compensation Law and Practice authored by Chartwell Attorney Andrew Greenberg.
A link to the case is available below:
http://www.pacourts.us/assets/opinions/Commonwealth/out/1432CD13_3-10-14.pdf?cb=1
X
