Thomas, Thomas & Hafer attorneys Marc Aoun and John Morgan recently prevailed before the Commonwealth Court on a statute of limitations defense in a firefighter cancer claim resulting in a Published Precedential Majority Decision.

The issue was whether the three-year statute of limitations applies in Act 46 firefighter cancer claims in light of dicta in a recent Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision suggesting that these claims are only governed by a 600-week manifestation period. The Claimant was diagnosed in 2018, informed the fire department of his belief that the diagnosis was related to firefighting in 2018, yet did not file a Claim Petition until 2023. The Claimant asserted that his claim was timely because it was filed within 600 weeks of the diagnosis. The WCJ and WCAB disagreed and found that the claim was barred by the statute of limitations. The Commonwealth Court affirmed in a precedential published decision.

During oral argument, Marc differentiated between the 600-week manifestation period and the 3-year statute of limitations period, which unambiguously applies to “all” claims. John prepared the brief, noting that the statute of limitations was not at issue in the case relied upon by Claimant, and systematically ruling out all other avenues for the Court to remand and give the Claimant another shot to avoid the statute of limitations. The Commonwealth Court fully adopted the outcome and reasoning argued by Marc and John, and held that the 3-year statute of limitations is not supplanted by the 600-week manifestation period.

Questions about this case can be directed to Marc Aoun at 610-332-7006 or maoun@tthlaw.com, or John Morgan at 267-861-7580 or jmorgan@tthlaw.com.