Opinion

Young v. Workers' Compensation Appeal Board

  • 592 Pa. 40
  • 922 A.2d 891
  • 2007 Pa. LEXIS 1171
Court
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
Filed
May 31, 2007
Status
Published
Author
Saylor
On the bench
Baer, Baldwin, Cappy, Castille, Eakin, Files, Saylor
Cited by
3 cases
Authority
More cited than 19.6%

The opinion

Justice SAYLOR,

concurring.

I join the majority disposition of this appeal, because I believe that it effectuates a plain-meaning application of Section 301(c)(2) of the Workers’ Compensation Act, 77 P.S. § 411(2). I write only to note that Employer’s substantive due process *892 argument gives me pause, since the plain-meaning interpretation of Section 301(c)(2) eliminates (or at least severely restricts) the conventional workers’ compensation concept of employer-specific work relatedness in the occupational disease setting. I believe, however, that any developed discussion of substantive due process relative to workers’ compensation would need to encompass a discussion of the trilogy of decisions in which the United States Supreme Court, in very general terms, approved the basic loss-spreading scheme inherent in the general workers’ compensation concept as consistent with constitutional due process norms. See New York Central R.R. Co. v. White, 243 U.S. 188 , 37 S.Ct. 247 , 61 L.Ed. 667 (1917); Hawkins v. Bleakly, 243 U.S. 210 , 37 S.Ct. 255 , 61 L.Ed. 678 (1917); Mountain Timber Co. v. State, 243 U.S. 219 , 37 S.Ct. 260 , 61 L.Ed. 685 (1917). Since Employer has not included such a discussion in its brief, or referenced any other substantive due process decision, I find its argument on this point to be insufficiently developed to warrant further consideration in this case.

Justice BALDWIN joins this concurring statement.

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.

A word about cookies

We need a few to keep you signed in and the library working. The rest help us see which pages people use and where they get stuck. They stay off unless you say yes.