42 A.2d 166 | Pa. Super. Ct. | 1945
Argued March 14, 1945. The real issue presented by the record in this workmen's compensation case has been considerably beclouded by the unfortunate fact that the litigation has been before referees five times, before the board on nine occasions, and that four appeals have been taken to the court of common pleas. This appeal is by the employer's insurance carrier from an order of the court below setting aside an agreement and final receipt as an illegal compromise and entering judgment on an award secured by claimant in 1933.
On March 25, 1932, claimant suffered an injury in *183 the course of his employment as a polisher for Herman J. Wolf, a manufacturer of church goods. On July 12, 1933, the board set aside findings of fact by the referee that there was no causal connection between the accident and a subsequent paralysis of claimant's hands. It made an award for total disability from April 2, 1932, at the weekly rate of $10.03, with interest on overdue payments, the compensation "to continue until such time as claimant's disability ceases or changes in extent." Defendant thereupon appealed to the court of common pleas. Before the argument of the appeal, the insurance carrier's claims manager telephoned claimant's then attorney of record and proposed that defendant would withdraw its appeal if claimant would execute an agreement for compensation and a final receipt in return for payment of compensation at the rate fixed by the board from April 2, 1932, to the date upon which the appeal otherwise would be set down for argument. The attorney communicated the offer to claimant, who at that time had been out of work for a year and a half and was in dire financial circumstances, and claimant accepted, saying he believed he could return to work the following week. The insurance carrier prepared a form of agreement, No. 2893587, and a final receipt bearing the same number and forwarded them to the attorney, together with a check for $759.41, representing compensation, without interest on the overdue installments, at $10.03 for 75-5/7 weeks, or until September 14, 1933. Claimant, after being advised that he was thereby waiving his rights to future compensation, signed both documents simultaneously on September 18, 1933. The agreement recited "Able Return 9-14-33 for Herman J. Wolf at $15.44", while the final receipt contained a recital that claimant "was able to return to work on the 14th day of Sept., 1933, at a wage of $15.44 per week." Claimant has never returned to work and it was later found as a fact by the compensation authorities that he was totally disabled *184 when the receipt was signed and continued to be so at least until March 6, 1939, the last date to which findings relating to the subject were made. On September 27, 1933, defendant's appeal to the common pleas was withdrawn in accordance with the agreement.
On April 24, 1936, claimant filed a petition under § 434 of the Workmen's Compensation Act of June 2, 1915, P.L. 736, as amended,
Claimants in compensation cases are not required to observe strict rules of pleading, as it is not the policy of this court to strike down meritorious claims merely because of a failure to file a petition under the proper section of the statute.Szymanski v. Culmerville Coal Co.,
It should be observed that this case is not controlled by the principle of which the decisions in Eberst v. Sears Roebuck Co.,
Section 407 of the Workmen's Compensation Act of June 2, 1915, P.L. 736, as amended by Act of June 26, 1919, P.L. 642, Article IV, § 407, was in effect when claimant signed and delivered the agreement and final receipt and is therefore the statute establishing the grounds upon which they may be invalidated. Rubyv. Hutchison,
It is the province of the compensation authorities to resolve issues of fact, and their findings, if based on substantial competent evidence, are binding on the courts, Bronkowski v.Colonial Colliery Co.,
In Blair v. Laughead,
In the present case, negotiations for the agreement and final receipt were instituted by the insurance carrier at a time when there was outstanding the board's adverse award and an appeal was pending before the common pleas. Its offer of immediate payment of a portion of its potential liability under the award evidences the carrier's uncertainty concerning the outcome of the appeal, and that its offer of payment was conditioned upon the execution of the two instruments demonstrates that the carrier was not recognizing an existing liability for a past disability which had been terminated by a recovery from the injuries suffered. If the carrier believed it was not responsible at all for the disability its remedy was to proceed with the appeal; if it believed it was liable for the total disability up to September 14, 1933, but that thereafter there had been either a recovery or a decrease in disability, the course plainly indicated by the statute was to pay the accumulated arrearages, without imposing onerous *188
conditions thereto, and to secure a final receipt or to petition under the second paragraph of § 413,
Judgment affirmed.