Court Opinion

ID: 9535253
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 04:47:22.522627+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:33:12.292551
License: Public Domain

Dissenting Opinion by
Judge FRIEDMAN.
I respectfully dissent. The majority’s holding is that John Steeple (Claimant) is not entitled to an award of counsel fees in this case because the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (Employer) had sufficient evidence on March 22, 1993 to justify the filing of its modification petition. In other words, the majority concludes that, initially, Employer’s contest was reasonable. (Majority op. at 6, 8.) However, the majority does not address whether Employer’s contest became unreasonable at any time before Employer ultimately withdrew its petition on February 22, 1996. See Eidell v. Workmen’s Compensation Appeal Board (Dana Corporation), 155 Pa.Cmwlth. 254, 624 A.2d 824, 829 (1993) (stating that “circumstances can change so that a reasonable contest becomes unreasonable”).1
I agree with the majority that Employer’s contest was reasonable at the time Employer filed the modification petition. At that time, Employer was in possession of evidence that would have satisfied Employer’s burden of proof, i.e., the medical report of M. Barry Lipson, M.D., an orthopedic surgeon, and a packet of materials from Joann Cassidy, a vocational counsel- or. The packet of materials contained information about job referrals that were made to Claimant and included statements of prospective employers to Cassidy indicating that Claimant had not applied for several of the jobs.
However, on September 14, 1994, this Court held in McCray v. Workmen’s Compensation Appeal Board (Preschool Development Programs, Inc.), 167 Pa.Cmwlth. 402, 648 A.2d 348 (1994), appeal denied, 540 Pa. 608, 655 A.2d 995 (1995), that the testimony of a vocational counselor about conversations with prospective employers *400concerning whether a claimant applied for a job was inadmissible hearsay. Based on the holding in McCray, Cassidy’s packet of materials was no longer sufficient to establish that Claimant failed to apply for a particular job. Employer needed the testimony of the prospective employers to meets its burden of proof on the modification petition.
Employer asserts that, after it realized that it would not be able to obtain the testimony of the prospective employers, Employer withdrew the petition in a timely manner. However, Employer did not withdraw the petition until February 22, 1996. Thus, the withdrawal was almost a year and a half after the September 14, 1994 McCray decision. It was more than a year after Cassidy’s February 7, 1995 deposition, at which Employer promised to present testimony from a prospective employer.2 It was also more than a year after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s February 13,1995 denial of the petition for allowance of appeal in McCray.3 In other words, Employer submits that it is reasonable to take more than a year to determine that a particular witness will not testify in a workers’ compensation proceeding.
The record suggests to me that Employer’s contest may have become unreasonable some time before Employer withdrew its petition on February 22, 1996. However, there are no findings in this case as to: (1) what actions Employer took to secure the testimony of the prospective employers; and (2) when Employer realized that it could not obtain the testimony of the prospective employers. Therefore, unlike the majority, I would remand this case for findings necessary to determine whether Employer’s contest was unreasonable before Employer withdrew its petition on February 22,1996.

. The majority states that, because Employer withdrew its petition after there was a change in circumstances, Employer’s contest was reasonable. (Majority op. at 8.) However, the majority does not consider how long it took Employer to withdraw the petition after the change of circumstances.

. At Cassidy’s February 7, 1995 deposition, in response to a hearsay objection, Employer stated that it would have a prospective employer testify at a later date as to whether Claimant applied for a job with that employer. (Cassidy’s 2/7/95 deposition, N.T. at 18.)

. See McCray, 540 Pa. 608, 655 A.2d 995 (1995).