Pennsylvania Supreme Court Strikes Down Major Piece of Workers’ Compensation Act.

June 20th, 2017

In Protz v. W.C.A.B., 2017 WL 2644474 (Pa Supreme Court, June 20, 2017), the Pennsylvania Supreme Court struck down Section 306 (a.2) of the Workers’ Compensation Act, (“W.C.A.”) 77 Pa.C.S. Section 511.2(1), which allowed employers to demand that a claimant undergo an Impairment Rating Evaluation, (“IRE”), to determine their “degree of impairment” based on the most recent AMA Guides, as an unconstitutional delegation of legislative authority.

Under Section 306 (a.2) of the W.C.A., if a claimant’s impairment rating was less than 50%, the employer could file a petition to limit benefits to 500 weeks. Opinion by Justice Wecht, joined by JusticesTodd, Donohue, Dougherty and Mundy. Chief Justice Saylor filed a concurring opinion. Justice Baer dissented.

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