The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has ruled against a key worker’s compensation law that dictates how the state determines workplace injury compensation. The ruling by the court ended in a 6-1 decision, changing the way payments are handled in workplace injury claims.
The ruling is considered to be one of the most significant worker’s compensation changes to occur in Pennsylvania in the past 30 years. It opens the door to the possibility of workers who have been injured on the job to receive payments that provide fairer compensation for the injuries they have suffered.
With the ruling, the court has eliminated using the guidelines recommended by the American Medical Association. These recommendations typically capped compensation benefits for an injured worker that have been severely hurt on the job after certain amounts and time periods.
Under the old law, insurance companies could require injured workers to report to a doctor for an evaluation after receiving injury compensation for two years. These doctors were required to use the guidelines set by the American Medical Association to rate the extent of the worker’s injury in percentages. The court found the rating system to be arbitrary and capricious. This inevitably left some workers with reduced payments after two years and provided a cap on worker’s compensation after 10 years or 500 weeks.
The ruling by the Supreme Court does away with these recommended guidelines, making it possible for injured workers to get full benefits for longer periods of time without caps in place. The court has also given the possibility for workers that were hurt on the job over the last 20 years to refile their claim, allowing them to seek additional compensation for their suffering.
To understand what your legal rights are when it comes to workplace injuries, contact the attorneys of Baldwin Matzus, LLC. We are professional and knowledgeable lawyers that have the expertise you are seeking for your workplace injury settlements.
