Maier's Bakery v. WCAB (Sandt)
May 11, 2000OUTCOME: Success for Claimant
Employer attempted before the Workers' Compensation Judge to reduce Claimant's weekly workers' compensation check down to what his coworkers were making. This effort was based on a 1996 change to the l ... aw (Section 306(b)(1)) that allows employers to reduce workers' compensation benefits based on what "similarly situated" employees are making post-injury. Because his co-workers were not working the excessive overtime that Claimant had worked preinjury, the Court in essence held that Claimant was not a "similarly situated" employee. His hard work had actually paid off and distinguished him as not "similarly situated" to his coworkers who continued to work after he was injured. The Court refused to punish Claimant for his hard work.
