Mark Powell and John Morgan Successfully Defend Claim Petition on Course and Scope Grounds

TT&H attorneys Mark Powell and John Morgan recently prevailed before a Harrisburg Workers’ Compensation Judge on a Claim Petition, convincing the judge to deny the claim in its entirety on course and scope grounds, an issue which was bifurcated for a preliminary decision. The claimant was discovered on the alleged date of injury lying in a ditch a few hundred feet from the employer’s building. The claimant alleged that he tripped and fell backward striking his head while he was in the process of filling a pothole with gravel. Using maps, diagrams, and methodical questioning, Mark established that the ditch where claimant was found not on employer’s premises and was nowhere near the pothole claimant was allegedly asked to fill.

Through employer testimony it was established that claimant was not asked to fill a pothole on the date of his alleged injury and that there was no other conceivable reason why the claimant may have needed to leave the employer’s premises for a work-related reason. Through process of elimination, Mark showed that the only possibility was that the claimant was wandering off the employer’s premises on his own accord. Mark further submitted medical records establishing an apparently spontaneous internal system failure, but importantly no head trauma our outward signs of physical injury. John highlighted these inconsistencies and the sheer implausibility of the claimant’s story in the employer’s written argument and asserted that it was merely a coincidence that the claimant was in the general vicinity of his workplace when he spontaneously experienced an idiopathic medical event unrelated to work. The WCJ adopted this reasoning in her decision denying the Claim Petition in its entirety.

Questions about this matter can be directed to Mark Powell at 717-255-7645 or mpowell@tthlaw.com, or John Morgan at 267-861-7580 or jmorgan@tthlaw.com.