Commonwealth Court Again Refuses to Allow Claimants to Use IRE Results to Limit Employer's Right to Stop Workers' Comp
In a decision filed on June 18, 2007, the Commonwealth Court once again refused to allow claimants to use an Impairment Rating Evaluation (IRE) results to limit the employer's right to attempt to stop workers' compensation benefits. In Weismantle v. WCAB (Lucent Technologies), the Court held that an employer's Termination Petition was not foreclosed where the employer also requested an IRE while the Termination Petition was pending. This decision comes on the heels of the Court's 2006 decision in Schachter v. WCAB (SPS Technologies), wherein the Court ruled that an IRE showing a percentage whole-body impairment did not preclude the employer from later seeking a termination of benefits. To view the entire decision, click here.
Since the IRE process came into effect in 1996, attorneys for claimants have been trying to use the IRE whole-body impairment rating to show that the injured worker has permanent disability and, therefore, that the employer is forever barred from attempting to demonstrate full recovery by the injured worker. The Court has now firmly and consistently limited the scope of use of the IRE impairment ratings. They can only be used by the employer to verify that an injured worker has less than a 50% whole-body impairment, in which case, the worker's benefits are automatically restricted to a limited period. The claimant cannot use the IRE rating as evidence of the permanence of any disability.
