If you think your work injury case is concluded because you have started to receive your benefits checks regularly, think again. Under certain circumstances, employers can seek to shut down your benefits.
Your employer’s insurer is trying to save as much money as possible. To that end, they may decide to invoke supersedeas and petition you to appear for an independent medical exam. The petition they file with the court to immediately end or pause your benefits is called a supersedeas petition.
For help keeping your benefits, call Cardamone Law’s Certified Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Lawyers at
What Does Supersedeas Mean?
Supersedeas is a legal term used in Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation law that allows an employer to stop your wage-loss benefits immediately while the Judge hears the full petition asking for benefits to be modified, suspended, or terminated.
“Supersedeas” is the request by the employer/insurance company to supersede the previous order by cutting off or reducing your indemnity benefits (a.k.a. wage-loss benefits). It essentially works like a temporary order while the full case is heard.
Supersedeas vs. Temporary Restraining Orders (TROs) and Preliminary Injunctions
When filing a lawsuit or making a request of a court, the judge can grant a temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction at the outset of the case. This would give a party relief while the actual case is decided on the merits.
What Workers’ Comp Does
Workers’ Comp does not typically use these. Instead, supersedeas fills the same role of pausing benefits temporarily while the employer’s request to modify/end benefits is decided on the merits.
Appealability
TROs and supersedeas are meant to be brief interventions and usually cannot be appealed until the underlying merits of the case are decided.
How Supersedeas Works in Pennsylvania Workers’ Comp
Supersedeas requests are made as part of another petition. The supersedeas part is essentially an emergency petition that the judge decides quickly, while the full petition case is decided.
Petitions Involved
You will often see a supersedeas request when a Termination/Modification/Suspension Petition is filed against you. These are the three main petitions an employer/insurer can file to threaten your Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation benefits.
Supersedeas can also be filed by an employer to stop benefits while they appeal your case to the Workers’ Comp Appeal Board.
Responding to Supersedeas
The employer/insurer’s attorney will most likely request supersedeas, but the Work Comp Judge will normally grant you some time after the first hearing to submit some initial evidence rebutting the allegations in the petition.
Not all Work Comp Judges allow extra time, so be careful to know your Judge’s rules. Some want the supersedeas evidence ready at the initial hearing). For example, if the insurer/employer filed a Petition to Terminate benefits, they are alleging that you are fully recovered from the accepted work-related condition.
Decision on Supersedeas
The Judge assigned to the case, soon after the first hearing, will make a supersedeas decision. So you will want to speak to an attorney to make sure you are submitting evidence to win the supersedeas decision, and that directly refutes the allegations in the petition.
The Underlying Case Continues
After supersedeas, the underlying case on the Petition to Suspend/Modify/Terminate continues. The parties have 90 days each (normally 180 days total) to secure their evidence. Then a final hearing will take place where the evidence is submitted, after which the Work Comp Judge will advise the parties how long they have to submit written arguments called “Briefs.”
How Does Supersedeas Affect My Workers’ Comp Benefits?
The outcome depends on whether the supersedeas request is granted or denied.
Granted
If the judge grants the employer’s supersedeas request, then your wage loss checks will stop during the litigation. This means you will not get your money as the rest of the case is heard, and you could fall into dire financial trouble.
However, if we succeed on the underlying case and get the Petition to Terminate, Modify, or Suspend denied, your benefits can be turned back on (including the benefits you lost). However, it is typically easier to win at the supersedeas stage, so if you lose at that stage, you are unlikely to win on the merits.
What Happens if Supersedeas is Denied?
If the request for supersedeas is denied (this is more common), then the employer loses, and your wage loss checks will continue as the case proceeds through court. However, they only remain in place until the underlying Petition to Terminate, Modify, or Suspend is decided. Once that final decision is made, your benefits will, again, either remain in place or be turned off.
The supersedeas decision from the Pennsylvania Work Comp Judge is an Interlocutory Order – this means it is not subject to appeal like a final order on the merits of a case.
Partial Approval/Denial
This is a bit technical, but sometimes Workers’ Comp Judges decide to grant supersedeas in part. This usually comes up in appeals cases, where benefits might be kept in place but other penalties might be paused while the appeal goes through.
What Are Supersedeas Penalties?
If the employer stops paying you, but the judge later finds that the employer is wrong on the merits, and you should have been paid this whole time, you can also claim penalties. These non-payment penalties can be quite expensive for employers.
These penalties are typically only awarded when the employer failed to even file for supersedeas and just stopped paying you, hoping they would win. You typically cannot claim penalties if the court gives the employer permission to stop paying you by granting supersedeas requests.
What is Fund Reimbursement for Supersedeas?
When your employer’s supersedeas request is denied, they have to keep paying your benefits while their petition is decided. If it turns out your employer was correct and their Petition gets granted, then that means they overpaid you for the period between the supersedeas denial and termination being granted.
This often allows them to get reimbursed for those wage-loss benefits they never should have paid through a fund. That fund is paid into through fines and fees.
What Benefits Does Supersedeas Affect?
If you are not receiving wage-loss benefits, then there is nothing to supersede, so supersedeas doesn’t apply. Again, supersedeas only goes to the wage-loss benefits. The medical benefits are not affected.
Timeline of a Supersedeas Case
Cases often proceed like this:
Appeal of Original Decision
In cases where we win a decision on behalf of an injured worker, the employer/insurer often files an appeal to the Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board. That appeal is due 20 days from the date of the decision from the Workers’ Compensation Judge.
Supersedeas Filing
The insurer’s attorney will often request supersedeas or an order that states that they don’t have to pay the award, or perhaps costs or a penalty award, at the outset of the appeal process.
Decision on Supersedeas
An order from the WCAB is due within 30 days of the request for supersedeas.
How Long Does it Take?
Litigation in a Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation case can take up to a year or more. The supersedeas decision from a Work Comp Judge will happen soon after the initial hearing. Winning supersedeas is really important and should not be taken lightly.
What Happens at the Supersedeas Hearing?
A special supersedeas hearing is held before a Workers’ Compensation Judge within 21 days of the assignment of the employer’s Petition.
Worker’s Statements Submitted
At the supersedeas hearing, the claimant’s attorney submits an affidavit from the injured worker stating why benefits should not be stopped and detailing the medical problems that the claimant is still suffering as a result of the work injury.
Medical Reports Submitted
The claimant’s attorney will also submit a recent, relevant medical report from the claimant’s treating physician stating why the claimant is still disabled and not able to return to work.
How is the Decision Reached?
Within 14 days of the supersedeas hearing, the Judge must issue a written decision on the request for supersedeas. Unless a supersedeas is granted by a written order, it will be deemed denied.
What Factors Lead to Supersedeas Petitions Being Denied?
Workers’ Comp Judges are more likely to deny a supersedeas request when the following issues are present:
- The employer is unlikely to succeed on their Petition to Modify/Suspend/Terminate
- There will be no irreparable harm if the benefits are left in place during litigation
- Pausing or modifying the benefits will substantially harm the worker
- Public interest is in favor of keeping the benefits going.
Winning the supersedeas decision at the outset of the appeal is critical so that our clients can get their money, pay their bills, and start getting out of debt after a long time in litigation/court.
How Our Workers’ Comp Lawyers Can Help
Supersedeas is a really important matter if you are an injured worker and receiving wage loss checks. Why? Because if you lose the supersedeas decision, your checks will be reduced or stopped as the case proceeds.
Litigation can take up to a year sometimes, and even more in some cases. So you want the cash flow to continue, and winning supersedeas is the way to do this.
Successful Client Results for Cases Involving Supersedeas Requests
A Case Involving a Serious Foot/Ankle Injury
Cardamone Law successfully defeated a supersedeas request in a case involving a serious foot and ankle injury.
The insurer attempted to argue that the claimant refused reasonable and necessary medical treatment, but Attorney Michael Cardamone argued that the insurer failed to specify what treatment and meet the other elements of such a Petition to Suspend.
The Work Comp Judge denied the supersedeas request, which allows the wage-loss benefits to continue as the litigation proceeds.
A Supersedeas Case Involving an Injured Bus Driver
Cardamone had won the underlying case a few years ago, getting his client onto Workers’ Compensation benefits after her work-related knee injury. The litigation was fought hard and Cardamone prevailed by showing the Workers’ Compensation Judge that his client was credible and that her doctor, an orthopedic surgeon who did her knee surgery, had a more credible opinion than the hired gun from the employer.
In this most recent litigation, the employer is alleging that Cardamone’s client is fully recovered. The first part of the case is called supersedeas, whereby the employer asks the Judge to supersede or cut off the wage loss checks. In response, Cardamone submitted an Affidavit from his client, and recent medical records indicating that she is not fully recovered.
The Workers’ Compensation Judge denied supersedeas which means the wage loss checks will continue as the litigation unfolds. This is a critical win because litigation can take up to a year- sometimes even longer. The victory allows Cardamone’s client to keep paying her bills as she tries to recover and restore her earning power.
A Supersedeas Case Involving an Injured Truck Driver
Michael W. Cardamone, President of Cardamone Law, secured an important victory for his client, an injured truck driver. Cardamone’s client sustained a work-related foot and ankle injury. The insurer sent him to an IME doctor who claims who is now recovered.
Cardamone presented evidence from both his client and the treating physician, demonstrating that his client is not fully recovered. Consequently, the Workers’ Comp Judge denied supersedeas – that is, a request at the outset of litigation, to reduce the wage loss payments. As the case proceeds on the merits, Cardamone’s client will continue to get paid.
A Case in Monroe County, PA
Cardamone’s client faced a Suspension of her benefits based on a Petition filed by her employer/insurer. However, Cardamone successfully argued to the Workers’ Compensation Judge at the initial hearing that the allegations in the Petition were vague and not conducive to any meaningful reply. The Work Comp Judge agreed, directing the employer/ insurer to set forth more specific allegations, denying their request to immediately shut down the wage loss checks. Consequently, Cardamone’s client will continue to receive her checks as the litigation proceeds on the merits.
Our Law Firm Secures Housekeeper’s Dues
Michael W. Cardamone, CEO of Cardamone Law, has secured another supersedeas victory for his client, an injured worker who injured her low back working as a housekeeper in Northeast Pennsylvania. The insurer tried to cut off her wage-loss benefits by submitting an “Independent Medical Exam,” but Cardamone successfully rebutted the report by submitting an Affidavit from his client confirming that she is not recovered, and some of her recent medical records.
As a result, Cardamone’s hardworking client can continue to pay her bills as she receives ongoing treatment for her work injury.
FAQs on Supersedeas
When is Supersedeas Filed?
Employers file supersedeas when benefits are already being paid, but they want to pause then while a petition or appeal is heard. This usually comes when they file a Petition to Modify, Suspend, or Terminate your benefits, or when appealing a case they lost.
Who Files Supersedeas?
Usually, the employer is the one filing for supersedeas.
What Happens if Supersedeas is Granted?
If the Judge grants supersedeas, your benefits stop or are reduced while the case is carried out.
What if Supersedeas is Decided Incorrectly?
If the judge stops benefits but later finds they should have been paid, you get paid back benefits. If the judge keeps benefits in place but later finds they should have stopped, the employer gets repaid for the overpayment from a reimbursement fund.
How Long Does Supersedeas Take?
Requests usually give each side 90 days to put together their arguments and answers, then the judge decides. This often puts the decision on supersedeas at a little over 180 days, but the underlying case can take about a year.
Are Supersedeas Decisions Final?
When a judge grants or denies supersedeas, it is just a temporary decision until the underlying case is resolved. However, the decision is typically final until that point, as you cannot usually appeal supersedeas decisions while the underlying case is pending.
If I Win Supersedeas, Will I Win My Case?
Winning at the supersedeas stage is often easier than winning the case. This means that a win on supersedeas doesn’t mean much to predict the final outcome.
If I Lose Supersedeas, Will I Lose My Case?
On the other hand, since winning at the supersedeas stage is easier than winning the case, losing on the supersedeas often means you will lose the underlying case. However, that is by no means etched in stone, and good lawyering and evidence can always help you come out on top, even if the judge halted your benefits on a temporary basis.
Call Our Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Lawyers Today
Contact Cardamone Law by calling (267) 651-7945 for a free case assessment with our Philadelphia Workers’ Comp lawyers.
