Supersedeas is a request by the employer/insurance company to cut off/supersede or reduce your indemnity (wage loss) benefits.
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. 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 and his/her 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. The Judge assigned 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. If it’s granted, then your wage loss checks will stop during the litigation. If the request for Supersedeas is denied (this is more common), then your wage loss checks will continue as the case proceeds through court. 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.
After Supersedeas, the case continues where 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”.
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. And, litigation can take up to a year sometimes, even more in some cases. So you want the cash flow to continue and winning Supersedeas is the way to do this! Call Workers’ Comp Law Firm Cardamone Law 7 days a week to get your case reviewed. No charge, no costs. Fees in Pennsylvania Work Comp are contingent. We win the vast majority of Supersedeas Decisions, thereby positioning our clients’ cases in a way that maintains leverage, especially for settlement negotiations.
(215) 206-9068
Comp? Cardamone!
Work Comp For Injured Workers Is All We Do.
