The Pennsylvania Supreme Court, in Lewis v. WCAB, has raised the burden of proof on employers challenging the causation of injuries in Workers’ Compensation cases. Employers must now show a change in the employee’s physical condition to seek modification or termination of benefits. This is a major change in Workers' Compensation jurisprudence.

In the 1997 case King v. WCAB, the Supreme Court decided that an employer did not need to show an actual change in the physical condition of the employee to support a Termination Petition. The decision in Lewis has overturned King and raised the bar for employers.

The employee in Lewis was first injured in October, 1988. His employer had litigated and lost three Termination Petitions. The decisions of the Workers’ Compensation Judges hearing the second and third Petitions resulted in additional medical conditions being attributed to the employee’s work-related injury.

The employer then presented a fourth Petition, and offered the testimony of a physician who stated the original injury had healed, and the second and third injuries were not caused by the work-related accident. This fourth Termination Petition was granted, despite the fact that the medical testimony contradicted all three of the previous decisions in the case. The Commonwealth Court, relying on King v. WCAB, found that the employer was not precluded from offering testimony questioning issues previously decided by Workers’ Compensation Judges.

The Supreme Court disagreed. To allow employers to present a Petition to Terminate where there is no change in the employee’s physical condition would allow an unlimited number of Petitions to be presented until a favorable decision was given. To avoid this, the Court overturned King and reaffirmed the rule that a party seeking modification or termination of benefits must show a change in the employee’s physical condition.

Should you have any further questions on this issue or any other areas of Workers' Compensation Law, please contact Anthony J. Plastino, II at (412) 261-6400 or e-mail: ajp@jgcg.com