The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania has granted the Petition for Allowance of Appeal filed on behalf of Mary Ann Protz AND the Petition for Allowance of Appeal filed on behalf Derry Area School District.
The two orders entered March 22, 2016 define the issues presented for review by the Court.
"Whether the Commonwealth Court - after properly determining that Section 306(a.2) of the Workers' Compensation Act was unconstitutional - erred in remanding the case to the Workers' Compensation Judge with instructions to apply the Fourth Edition of the American Medical Association's Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment when neither Section 306(a.2) nor any other section of the Act ever references the Fourth Edition and its usage was not sanctioned by the Pennsylvania Legislature.
"Does Section 306(a.2) of the Workers' Compensation Act unconstitutionally delegate the State Legislature's lawmaking authority in violation of Article ll, Section 1 of the Pennsylvania Constitution by incorporating the most recent edition of the AMA Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment?
The Court will issue a schedule for the submission of Petitioner and Respondent Briefs. We anticipate oral argument will be scheduled thereafter. Based upon past experience, the time frame for publication of a final opinion and order may range from a few months, up to several months.
If there is an "even" number of Justices, equally splitting on resolution of these issues, the underlying decision of the Commonwealth Court will be the final opinion in this matter.
