Pennsylvania Code › Title 34 - LABOR AND INDUSTRY › Part VIII - Bureau of Workers' Compensation › Chapter 131 - SPECIAL RULES OF ADMINISTRATIVE PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE BEFORE WORKERS' COMPENSATION JUDGES › Subchapter C - FORMAL PROCEEDINGS › PLEADINGS › Section 131.36 - Joinder

Current through Register Vol. 54, No. 28, July 13, 2024
(a) A party
					 desiring to join another defendant to assert a claim relevant to the pending
					 petition may do so as a matter of right by filing a petition for
					 joinder.
(b) A petition for joinder
					 shall set forth the identity of employers and insurance carriers sought to be
					 joined and the reasons for joining a particular employer or insurance carrier
					 as well as the specific facts and the legal basis for the joinder.
(c) The petition for joinder shall have
					 attached to it copies of petitions and answers previously filed and a list of
					 the dates and locations of all prior hearings held and depositions
					 taken.
(d) The petition for joinder
					 form shall be filed with the Department no later than 20 days after the first
					 hearing at which evidence is received regarding the reason for which joinder is
					 sought, unless the time is extended by the judge for good cause
					 shown.
(e) An answer to a petition
					 for joinder shall be filed in accordance with section 416 of the act
					 (77
					 P. S. §
												821) within 20 days after the
					 date of assignment by the Department to the judge and may include a motion to
					 strike.
(f) A party filing a
					 petition for joinder or an answer to it shall serve unrepresented parties and
					 counsel of record.
(g) A proof of
					 service shall be attached to the petition for joinder or answer.
(h) After joinder, the original petition
					 shall be deemed amended to assert a claim of the claimant against an additional
					 defendant. The additional defendant is liable to any other party as the judge
					 orders. The additional defendant shall have the same rights and
					 responsibilities under this chapter as the original defendant.
(i) The judge may strike the petition for
					 joinder, and the judge may order the severance or separate hearing of a claim
					 presented therein, or as a result of the joinder.
(j) The judge will issue an order when the
					 motion to strike a petition for joinder is granted.
(k) An order to strike a petition for joinder
					 does not preclude or delay further proceedings before the judge.
(l) Subsections (a)-(k) supersede 1 Pa. Code
					 §§
											31.5,
					 33.41,
					 33.42,
					 35.11,
					 35.35,
					 35.40,
					 35.48-35.51,
					 35.54 and 35.55 and also supersede
					 1 Pa. Code Chapter 35, Subchapter D (relating to motions).
The provisions of this §
													131.36 amended under sections
						  401.1, 435(a) and (c) and 1608 of
						  the Workers' Compensation Act (77 P. S. §§
														710,
						  991(a) and (c) and 2708);
						  section 2205 of The Administrative Code of 1929 (71 P. S. §
														565); and section 414 of The Pennsylvania
						  Occupational Disease Act (77 P. S. §
														1514).
This section cited in 34 Pa. Code §
													131.33 (relating to answers except
						  answers to petitions for joinder and challenge
						  proceedings).