John B. BIGLEY, Appellant, v. UNITY AUTO PARTS, INC. and The Workmen‘s Compensation Appeal Board.
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.
Decided Nov. 5, 1981.
Argued March 5, 1981.
436 A.2d 1172
Joseph F. Grochmal, Noble R. Zuschlag, Fried, Kane, Walters & Zuschlag, Pittsburgh, for appellee.
Before O‘BRIEN, C. J., and ROBERTS, NIX, LARSEN, FLAHERTY and KAUFFMAN, JJ.
OPINION
NIX, Justice.
Appellant John Bigley was an employee of Unity Auto Parts, Inc. On September 7, 1973, Bigley was a passenger in a vehicle belonging to Unity and operated by a co-worker when it became involved in an accident. As a result of the injuries sustained, Bigley is now a quadriplegic. At the time of the accident Bigley was 21 years of age and had just graduated from Penn State University. He was married and the couple had one child.1 Following the accident, American Hardware Mutual Insurance Company, the workmen‘s compensation carrier for Unity, filed an official form of notice to the Commonwealth reporting the injury and indicating that compensation would be paid to Bigley at the rate of $62.67 weekly. The payments were not accepted by Mr. Bigley. Instead, Bigley and his wife instituted a trespass action in the Court of Common Pleas of Westmoreland County. They named as defendants Unity as well as Jean-
On September 5, 1975, Bigley also filed a workmen‘s compensation claim petition alleging a work related injury on September 7, 1973.5 That petition included a notice which stated: “This action is filed to protect my rights under the Workmen‘s Compensation Act within the statutory period allowed for filing claims.”
In the suit in the trespass action, on August 7, 1975, the judge ruled that the injury did not occur while in the regular course of employment6 and that the defense of workmen‘s compensation was not available to Unity.7 Subsequently on March 5, 1976, the remaining parties (Bigley, Unity and Larrabee) entered into a settlement. By the terms of the settlement agreement, Bigley agreed to prosecute the claim for workmen‘s compensation and to use his best efforts in successfully concluding the matter. It was also agreed that the insurance companies of the defendants in the trespass action could be subrogated out of the award Bigley might receive under the Workmen‘s Compensation Act.
For reasons not explained on this record, the claim petition was withdrawn at appellant‘s counsel‘s request. The request was made on February 25, 1977. On February 28, 1977 Referee Kenney approved the request and permitted the withdrawal.8 No appeal was taken from that order. Subsequently, new counsel for Bigley filed on his behalf on October 3, 1977 a petition to reinstate his workmen‘s compensation claim. Unity filed an answer alleging (a) that the claim was barred by the statute of limitations; (b) that the original petition had been withdrawn and no appeal taken and was therefore res judicata; and (c) that the petition for reinstatement was untimely. The referee before whom the hearing on the petition for reinstatement was held dismissed the petition. This decision was upheld by the Workmen‘s Compensation Appeal Board and the Commonwealth Court, 49 Pa.Cmwlth. 448, 411 A.2d 575. This Court granted review.
The Commonwealth Court was of the view that the instant appeal was controlled by that court‘s decision in Fox v. Workmen‘s Compensation Appeal Board, 33 Pa.Cmwlth. 575, 382 A.2d 494 (1978). Mr. Fox filed a claim on July 19, 1971 seeking workmen‘s compensation benefits as a result of an injury allegedly suffered on October 29, 1970. On June 5, 1972 during the hearing before the referee, Mr. Fox agreed to withdraw his claim petition upon the promise of the employer to pay the medical bills incurred as a result of the
Prior to the Board‘s affirmance of the referee‘s order approving the withdrawal, Mr. Fox filed a petition for modification of award advancing the same argument that he urged before the Board. A second hearing before a referee was held and thereafter the referee dismissed the petition. The referee‘s dismissal was affirmed by the Board.
In Fox the Commonwealth Court upheld the Board and the referee by concluding that
The factual matrix of Fox is entirely different from that presented here. In Fox claimant‘s reasons for the request to vacate the order to withdraw received an administrative airing. Rather than seeking judicial review of that ruling, appellant sought to reinstate the administrative process through the guise of a “petition for modification.” The Commonwealth Court in Fox properly perceived the “petition for modification” as an attempt to relitigate an abandoned claim. The abandonment of the claim did not stem from the original agreement to withdraw by the claimant but from his failure to properly pursue his contention that the agreement to withdraw was not intelligently made.
The justification of the Commonwealth Court‘s result in Fox is simply that the claimant, having abandoned his claim, would not be permitted to gain recovery in a fresh action which ignored the conclusive effect of the prior abandoned one. The Commonwealth Court‘s reliance in that case upon the bar of section 315 was merely the device used to reach a desired result. In our present consideration, we must not permit the rationale employed in Fox to obscure the real question that we must resolve.
The pivotal issue in this case is whether the withdrawal of the original claim petition precluded claimant from a further attempt to seek recovery under the Act. The reliance upon the decision in Fox and the forfeiture provision of
If a second request for compensation had been timely made under
Where an agreement has been reached as to compensability and liability for a particular injury the Act has provided broad administrative discretion to modify, reinstate, suspend, or terminate to effectuate the purposes of the Act. See Leaseway Systems, Inc. v. Workmen‘s Compensation Appeal Board, 53 Pa.Cmwlth. 520, 418 A.2d 796 (1980);
Thus, the area of contention focuses upon the situation where there has been no agreement and no determination as to compensability and liability prior to the request to withdraw the claim petition. The heart of appellee‘s argument is grounded upon the premise that the administrative authority prior to an agreement or an adjudication differs from that which follows either of those events. Appellee concedes that a petition to reinstate a claim is an appropriate administrative tool to reactivate a case where there has been an agreement or an adjudication of compensability and liability. It is argued that prior to the establishment of the underlying validity of the claim, a withdrawal of the claim may not be reopened absent a showing that it was not voluntarily, knowingly or intelligently withdrawn. The dichotomy which appellee seeks to draw, with the conditions offered, is not supported by the language of the Act.
Moreover, the condition imposed by appellee upon the exercise of this implied right, even if accepted, would not justify a foreclosure of instant claimant‘s rights to recovery. There is nothing in this record to establish that the request to withdraw the claim petition was “voluntarily, knowingly and intelligently” made. The record establishes that it was gratuitous, apparently in violation of the settlement agreement (in the trespass action) that counsel had negotiated for his client, and silent as to whether claimant participated in
Consistent with the cardinal principle of statutory construction that the legislature does not intend to achieve an absurd result,
The stated remedial purposes of the Act, Workmen‘s Compensation Appeal Board v. Hartlieb, supra, makes it apparent that the implied administrative power to approve withdrawals and to reinstate the original claim was not intended to provide a gratuitous boon to the employer to the prejudice of the claimant. The power to adjust inequities prior to an administrative determination on the merits must necessarily be as broad as the powers that are available after such a determination. The power to reinstate a gratuitous unilateral withdrawal should be liberally exercised absent a significant showing of prejudice by the other parties involved.
The question has also been raised as to whether instant claimant‘s right to receive consideration of his peti-
Finally, we are called upon to determine whether the settlement in the trespass action precludes relief under the Act. Where the Act is applicable, it is clear that it must provide the exclusive remedy for the aggrieved party. Greer v. U.S. Steel Corp., 237 Pa.Super. 597, 352 A.2d. 450 (1975), reversed on other grounds 475 Pa. 448, 380 A.2d 1221; Steets v. Sovereign Construction Co., 413 Pa. 458, 198 A.2d 590 (1964). Where the applicability of the Act is in question, the party seeking relief may offer alternative claims. Elkins v. Derby, 12 Cal.3d 410, 115 Cal.Rptr. 641, 525 P.2d 81 (1974); 101 C.J.S. Workmen‘s Compensation § 936. Here the settlement was obtained without a definitive determination as to the validity of appellant‘s claim for a work-related injury. Not only was the applicability of the Act one of the principal areas of dispute at the time of the settlement, but one of the terms of the settlement agreement was that appellant obligated himself to seek an adjudication of that very question. Thus it is apparent that the parties to the settlement agreement, Unity being one of those parties, did not contemplate that the agreement would foreclose further recovery under the Act. There can therefore be no basis for concluding that there was a contractual basis for foreclosing relief under the Act.11
Accordingly, the Order of the Commonwealth Court is reversed and the cause is remanded to the Board to provide an administrative determination of appellant‘s request for reinstatement to be determined by the principles advanced herein.
ROBERTS, J., filed a concurring opinion in which LARSEN, J., joined.
O‘BRIEN, C. J., filed a dissenting opinion.
; May Department Stores Co. v. Board of Property Assessment Appeals and Review of Allegheny County, 441 Pa. 556, 272 A.2d 862 (1971). Here the parties expressly contemplated an attempt to seek relief under the Act. So, too, res judicata, or the “res judicata effect” appellees seeks to invoke, requires a degree of finality in the earlier proceeding, Stevenson v. Silverman, 417 Pa. 187, 208 A.2d 786 (1965); Goldstein v. Abrams, 379 Pa. 330, 108 A.2d 693 (1954), which was obviously not present here. The question of the applicability of the Act was deliberately left unanswered; the obligation to seek a resolution of that question was mandated.I agree that this case should be remanded to the Workmen‘s Compensation Appeal Board for consideration of reinstatement of appellant‘s claim.
The three year statute of limitations acts as a presumptive bar to the filing of a claim beyond three years from the knowledge of injury, whether that claim is being filed for the first time or as reinstatement of a previously withdrawn claim. Nonetheless, circumstances have been recognized which will extend the right to file a claim petition. See Helstrom v. Commonwealth, Workman‘s Compensation Appeal Board, 43 Pa.Cmwlth. 113, 116, 401 A.2d 882, 884 (1979).
In the exceptional circumstances of this case, an evidentiary hearing on remand is essential to determine the reasons underlying appellant‘s withdrawal of his claim and whether reinstatement is appropriate.
LARSEN, J., joins in this concurring opinion.
O‘BRIEN, Chief Justice dissenting.
I dissent from the majority‘s conclusion that appellant John Bigley is entitled to yet another hearing concerning the timeliness of a second claim petition filed four years after he sustained his injuries.
Contrary to the majority‘s position concerning the purpose of section 315 of the Pennsylvania Workmen‘s Compensation Act, Act of June 2, 1915, P.L. 736, as amended,
A claim petition for Workmen‘s Compensation benefits also begins the concomitant procedures that disclose the facts necessary for a referee to determine if, in accordance with the Act, an injured employee is entitled to benefits. In the present case a determination was never rendered because the employer relied upon Mr. Bigley‘s position, as evidenced by the withdrawal of his claim petition, that he did not wish to pursue the claim.
The majority incorrectly states, “[appellee argues] that prior to the establishment of the underlying validity of the claim a withdrawal of the claim may not be reopened absent a showing that it was not voluntarily, knowingly or intelligently withdrawn.” Majority Opinion at 1177. Appellee does not suggest that a claim petition may not be filed if there has been a previous petition filed and withdrawn prior to adjudication on the merits. Rather, employer argues, and rightly so, that such a petition may not be filed if the limitation period provided in
The majority has ignored the hearing held before Referee Floyd Warren on May 8, 1978, and the submission of briefs that followed. At the hearing counsel for Mr. Bigley stated,
the injured employee filed a claim petition for benefits and the employer denied liability. At a pre-trial conference before a compensation judge, an order of continuance was entered because the employee failed to file a substantiating medical report. Two and one-half years later the claimant‘s attorney withdrew the petition. A year later, new counsel for the employee petitioned to have the dismissed claim reinstated. The Minnesota Supreme Court, in affirming the denial of the petition stated,
“When an employee files a claim petition, the statute of limitations is tolled during its pendency since the commencement of an action arrests the running of the applicable statute of limitations. However, if a claim is dismissed without a determination on the merits, the result is the same as if it had never been filed and the statute of limitations had never been tolled.” (Footnote omitted). Id. at 505.
In Turner v. Keller Kitchen Cabinets, Southern, Inc., 247 So.2d 35 (Fla.1971), the Florida Supreme Court analyzed whether a letter from the claimant‘s wife constituted a claim where a prior claim had been filed and withdrawn by the claimant‘s attorney. The Court stated, “[s]ince the initial claim was withdrawn without adjudication on the merits, we find that it was subject to renewal by timely action.” Id. at 38. (Emphasis Added).
Gordy v. Callaway Mills Co., 111 Ga.App. 798, 143 S.E.2d 401 (1965) dealt with a widow‘s claim for compensation filed following her withdrawal of a prior claim. The Georgia Court of Appeals stated,
“The widow‘s claim . . . although filed within the one year limitation, was effectively invalidated by its voluntary withdrawal by the claimant. If a claim is withdrawn by the party filing it before a hearing is had, it is as though no claim had been filed, and the board would be without jurisdiction to entertain a second claim filed after the expiration of the statutory limitation . . .” Id. at 800, 143 S.E.2d at 402-403.
Finally, the New York Court of Appeals in Joyce v. Eastman Kodak Co., 238 N.Y. 142, 144 N.E. 482 (1924) held that an employee who discontinued her compensation claim to pursue an action for damages against her employer was precluded from reinstating the claim by the statute of limitations of the Workmen‘s Compensation Law limiting the time for filing claims to one year from injury. Justice Cardozo, writing for a unanimous court stated, “[i]n vacating the order of withdrawal the board has attempted through the fiction of relation to make continuous in law what was discontinuous in fact.” Id. at 145, 144 N.E. at 483.
“[W]e should dispose of this issue about the time limitations of the claim because it would not serve anyone worthwhile to get into a rather lengthy period of reading and preparation of the record on the technical issues, when there is a technical issue which could be an impediment.”
Notes of Testimony of Hearing before Referee Warren, May 8, 1978 at 9. Additionally, while stating that Mr. Bigley would be available to testify along with about six other persons on the issue of whether appellant was in the course of employment when he was injured, counsel did not choose to present testimony at the hearing nor did he request to present testimony at some future date on the issue of the validity of the withdrawal of the initial claim petition and the untimely filing of the second petition. Notes of Testimony at 2, 9.
Counsel for appellant had every opportunity at the May 8, 1978, hearing to offer an explanation or assert an argument that might suggest an involuntary, unknowing or unintelligent withdrawal of the first claim petition or the existence of fraud or some excusable mistake.3 Instead, appellant‘s counsel has argued only that the withdrawal of the claim was not a decision on the merits and it therefore could be reinstated, presumably at any time.4 There were no requests or suggestions at the hearing, or at any level of appeal, that a hearing must be held to inquire into the facts surrounding the withdrawal of the initial petition, save the hypothesizing of the majority. The reason is, of course, that
Appellant‘s first counsel appears to have ably represented Mr. Bigley. He filed a suit in trespass and filed a claim for Workmen‘s Compensation benefits, two exclusive remedies, apparently in an effort to obtain everything possible for his client.5 He was obviously knowledgable about the Act and its limitation provisions, as evidenced by statements in the first-filed claim petition.6 Since new counsel for Mr. Bigley had the opportunity to allege fraud or mistake at the hearing before the referee, if it indeed existed, and in the absence of any such allegation, this Court should affirm the referee‘s finding that the untimely claim petition of Mr. Bigley is barred by
“[T]he time limit in which claims might be filed was placed in the act not only to produce a uniform practice, but to enable employers to know the period of time they could be called upon to respond for just claims, so that they might not be constantly expecting stale claims of doubtful merit.”
Horn v. Lehigh Valley R.R. Co., 274 Pa. 42, 44, 117 A. 409, 410 (1922).
I would affirm the Order of the Commonwealth Court.