A union employee from Thompsontown, PA, working as a sergeant corrections officer at a prison, sustained a work-related injury in December 2013, which the insurance carrier, Inservco Insurance Services, accepted as a left knee anterior cruciate ligament tear. In March 2015, the insurance carrier issued a Notice of Suspension indicating that the injured worker returned to work at earnings equal or greater to his time-of-injury earnings and we filed an Employee Challenge Petition. In reality, the injured worker had never ever received any compensation alleging administrative leave pay negated the obligation to pay compensation. Since administrative leave pay was less then the time of injury A.W.W. we sought workers’ compensation wage loss benefits. The insurance carrier then filed a Suspension Petition alleging that the injured worker had returned to work at regular wages and was not entitled to partial disability benefits for his work injury. Then, in further litigation, we filed a Penalty Petition for the insurance carrier’s failure to pay the injured worker his wage loss benefits which were due to him. Then the insurance carrier filed a Review Petition alleging that the injured worker’s disability from the knee was no longer work related. The injured worker had returned to work working modified duty and we then filed a Review Petition seeking to have him paid partial wage loss benefits due to him for the time periods he worked the modified duty job and for the time he was off work and paid only administrative leave. We won the employee and challenge and past due and ongoing compensation was awarded and paid. While the rest of the petitions were being actively litigated, the case ultimately settled for a lump sum of $142,500.00 for future benefits via a compromise and release with an additional three months of physical therapy after the date of the settlement hearing.
