Results

We obtained a favorable decision from the Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board, reversing the underlying judge’s decision pertaining to a school district’s entitlement to a credit for wages paid to a school teacher pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement. The Board granted credits for wages received by the injured worker through the school district’s collective bargaining agreement, allowing offsets against the claimant’s future entitlement to wage loss benefits.

We successfully prosecuted a termination petition on behalf of a well-known hospital and defended the claimant’s petition for review to expand the nature of the accepted injury. The injury was accepted as a right distal bicep strain, which included a partial tear that resulted in surgery. The claimant asserted the injury should be expanded to also include right carpal tunnel, right elbow sprain and trigger fingers.

We were successful in dismissing the employer and insurer from a fatal claim as a result of COVID-19 infection. The claimant-widower filed the claim on behalf of his deceased wife, alleging she contracted COVID-19 while working in the capacity of a caretaker for a sick client. We argued that the correct employer for workers’ compensation purposes was the claimant’s client, not the named employer. The Workers’ Compensation Judge agreed and dismissed the named employer and insurer as party defendants.

We  successfully defended a claim petition on behalf of a national communications carrier. The claimant was employed as a customer service representative who, as a result of the pandemic, transitioned to a work-from-home position. While carrying computers into his house, the claimant fell, sustaining a patellar tendon tear PCL tear, meniscus tears and bone contusions. Arguing that the injuries were work-related, the claimant presented evidence from several orthopedic surgeons.

We successfully defended a claim petition for an alleged spine injury on behalf of a construction company. The claimant was employed as a construction worker, and a week after being hired, he was allegedly injured while using a jackhammer. He filed a claim petition for multilevel disc injuries in the lumbar spine. Ashley presented the medical testimony of an orthopedic expert who explained how the injury was soft tissue in nature, and had resolved as of an independent medical examination.

We won summary judgment for a housing authority in a political subdivision matter in the U.S. District Court, Southern District of Ohio. The plaintiff sought over $20 million in damages, alleging the housing authority violated the Fair Housing Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act by discriminatorily blocking funding for, and financing of, 60 units of project-based affordable housing for homeless veterans, most of whom are disabled.

We successfully obtained dismissal, with prejudice, on behalf of a Pennsylvania Township and a township manager via a motion to dismiss plaintiff’s amended complaint. The plaintiff raised a single First Amendment count on the basis that the defendants allegedly retaliated against his exercise of his First Amendment right to petition by preemptively refusing to listen to him on the subject of traffic controls.

We obtained a defense verdict following a non-jury trial. This case was brought under Pennsylvania’s Sunshine Act, which governs the meetings of Commonwealth public agencies, including school boards. The plaintiffs were residents of a Centre County school district, and they sued the school board and its president, claiming they violated the Act in the manner by which they conducted public meetings.

We obtained summary judgment on behalf of a dentist who sold her practice in an employment and contract claim. The plaintiff, also a dentist, was employed by our client. He claimed his contract automatically renewed, and that he was entitled to two years of pay. The plaintiff also claimed he was entitled to be compensated because our client allegedly prevented him from taking records of patients he was treating.

The declaratory judgment complaint was filed against the landlord that leased three quarries to the insured tenant. The landlord sued its tenant for breach of contract and environmental clean-up costs. The landlord sought coverage as an additional insured to the tenant’s CGL policy. The insurer denied coverage.