House Bill 1840 is that Bill introduced by State Representative Robert Kauffman (and others) to deal with the effect of the Decision of the Pa. Supreme Court in Protz v. W.C.A.B. (Derry Area School District), 161 A. 3d 827 (Pa 2017). Recall that, in Protz, the Supreme Court struck down the IRE system (put into […]
Special Edition: Post-Protz Developments
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Protz v. WCAB (Derry Area School District): The Death of the IRE
In the Summer 2016 edition of this Bulletin, this author outlined the assault the claimant’s bar and the Pennsylvania appellate courts had begun on Section 306(a.2) of the Workers’ Compensation Act (see TR&C Workers’ Compensation Bulletin, Vol. XIII, No. 8, Summer 2016). With its recent decision in Protz v. WCAB (Derry Area School District), No. […]
An Assault on the IRE
Act 57 was enacted by the Pennsylvania legislature to help reduce the cost of workers’ compensation in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Consistent with trends in many states across the country, Act 57 contained a provision at Section 306(a.2) which provided a method of evaluating a claimant’s permanent partial disability, and limiting the benefits available for […]
IRE Provisions of the Workers’ Compensation Act Found to Be Unconstitutional
Background/Case Review On September 18, 2015, the Commonwealth Court filed its decision in Protz v. Workers’ Comp. Appeal Bd. (Derry Area Sch. Dist.), 2015 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 404 (Pa. Commw. Ct. Sept. 18, 2015). In that opinion, the court declared Section 306(a.2) of the Workers’ Compensation Act (hereafter the “Act”), 77 Pa. Stat. Ann. § […]