R. Welker v. Premium Transportation Staffing, Inc. (WCAB) ( 2023 )

IN THE COMMONWEALTH COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA
Robert Welker, :
Petitioner :
:
v. : No. 1191 C.D. 2022
: Argued: September 11, 2023
Premium Transportation Staffing, :
Inc. (Workers’ Compensation Appeal :
Board), :
Respondent :
BEFORE: HONORABLE RENÉE COHN JUBELIRER, President Judge
HONORABLE MICHAEL H. WOJCIK, Judge
HONORABLE MARY HANNAH LEAVITT, Senior Judge
OPINION NOT REPORTED
MEMORANDUM OPINION
BY SENIOR JUDGE LEAVITT FILED: November 30, 2023
Robert L. Welker (Claimant) petitions for this Court’s review of an
adjudication of the Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board (Board) that awarded him
compensation benefits for a work-related mental injury for a closed period of time.
In doing so, the Board affirmed the Workers’ Compensation Judge’s (WCJ) finding
that claimant had fully recovered. Claimant asserts that the WCJ did not issue a
reasoned decision, and thus, the Board erred. We dismiss the present petition as
moot.
On October 7, 2016, Claimant filed a claim petition alleging that he
sustained a work-related injury in the nature of bilateral middle finger frostbite and
post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in February of 2015, when the tractor-trailer
he was driving caught on fire. Employer filed an answer denying, inter alia, that the
truck fire, which was quickly and successfully extinguished, did not constitute an
abnormal working condition for a truck driver. On January 8, 2018, Claimant filed
an amended claim petition that withdrew the allegation of a physical injury, leaving
only the PTSD claim. The parties agreed to bifurcate the proceeding to separate the
question of whether Claimant had been subject to an abnormal working condition
from the question of whether he had sustained a disabling injury.
By interlocutory order circulated on July 15, 2019, the WCJ determined
that the truck fire constituted an abnormal working condition, and the claim petition
proceeded to final disposition on the merits.
The WCJ found that Claimant sustained a work-related injury on
February 5, 2015, in the nature of PTSD, and that this injury disabled Claimant from
April 20, 2016, through November 22, 2019. However, the WCJ found Claimant
fully recovered as of November 23, 2019. Claimant appealed the WCJ’s decision to
terminate his benefits, and the Board affirmed. Claimant then petitioned for this
Court’s review, asserting that the WCJ did not explain his reasons for finding
Claimant recovered.1
In Premium Transportation Staffing, Inc. v. Robert Welker (Workers’
Compensation Appeal Board), ___ A.3d ___ (Pa. Cmwlth., No. 1329 C.D. 2022,
filed November 30, 2023), this Court reversed the Board’s adjudication that the truck
fire in question constituted an abnormal working condition. As a consequence,
1
Our review determines whether the WCJ’s findings of fact were supported by substantial
evidence, whether an error of law was committed, or whether constitutional rights were violated.
Phoenixville Hospital v. Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board (Shoap), 81 A.3d 830, 838 (Pa.
2013). This Court may not reweigh evidence or witness credibility since the authority to do so
rests exclusively with the WCJ. Elk Mountain Ski Resort, Inc. v. Workers’ Compensation Appeal
Board (Tietz, deceased), 114 A.3d 27, 32 n.5 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2015). However, in examining
questions of law, the Court’s standard of review is plenary. Donovan v. Workers’ Compensation
Appeal Board (Academy Medical Realty), 739 A.2d 1156, 1161 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1999).
2
Claimant did not prove that he was eligible for compensation as a result of the
February 2015 incident, thereby rendering Claimant’s appeal in this case moot.
Accordingly, we dismiss Claimant’s petition for review.
____________________________________________
MARY HANNAH LEAVITT, President Judge Emerita
3
IN THE COMMONWEALTH COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA
Robert Welker, :
Petitioner :
:
v. : No. 1191 C.D. 2022
:
Premium Transportation Staffing, :
Inc. (Workers’ Compensation Appeal :
Board), :
Respondent :
ORDER
AND NOW, this 30th day of November, 2023, the petition for review
filed by Robert Welker in the above-referenced matter is DISMISSED as moot.
____________________________________________
MARY HANNAH LEAVITT, President Judge Emerita