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Golley v. Workers' Compensation Appeal Board3/13/2000
SUBMITTED: November 12, 1999
Raymond Golley appeals from the order of the Workers' Compensation Appeal Board (Board), which reversed the decision of the Workers' Compensation Judge (WCJ) to award Golley disability benefits pursuant to the Workers' Compensation Act and dismissed Golley's claim petition as untimely. Golley contends that, while he filed his petition more than three years after the date on which he sustained the work-related injury, the three year statute of limitations under Section 315 was tolled.
Golley sustained neck and back injuries in a work-related motor vehicle accident on February 26, 1991. At the time, he had been employed at AAA Mid-Atlantic for thirty-one years. After the accident, Golley continued to work for AAA without any loss of earnings while he pursued medical care and physical therapy for steadily increasing back pain. Golley quit work on May 20, 1994 to enter an intensive therapy/work-hardening program but he has never returned to the workplace. He underwent surgery for his back in December of 1994 and for his neck in June of 1995. Until November 4, 1994, employer paid all of Golley's accident-related medical expenses; however, on that date employer issued a notice of compensation denial. On November 16, 1994, Golley filed a claim petition. The WCJ, after hearing conflicting expert testimony regarding the extent of injury suffered in the car accident and the cause of Golley's inability to work, found that Golley was totally disabled as a result of the 1991 car accident. The WCJ rejected employer's contention that the claim was time barred under Section 315 of the Act on the ground that the statute was tolled because Golley had formed a "reasonable belief that his employer had filed a Claim Petition in his behalf." Golley v. AAA Mid-Atlantic, Inc, WCJ slip op. at F.O.F. 20 (filed July 20, 1998). In his decision, the WCJ stated that Golley "was led to believe that his employer and Kemper [employer's workers' compensation insurer] had accepted his injury as work- related as demonstrated by their paying of his medical bills through their Workers' Compensation carrier and their representations to Claimant that everything was fine." Id. at F.O.F. 27. The WCJ granted Golley's claim petition.
Employer appealed to the Board contesting the sufficiency of the evidence to support the WCJ's findings as to whether employer's actions had tolled the time bar at Section 315. The Board reversed the WCJ's decision on the ground that the voluntary payment of medical expenses by an employer prior to the filing of a claim petition and in the absence of an agreement, is not compensation for the purposes of tolling the statute of limitations. The Board further concluded that the record contains no evidence that Golley was led to believe, beyond the payment of medical expenses, that employer had accepted his claim. Golley v. AAA Mid- Atlantic, Inc., Board slip op. at p. 8 (filed July 20, 1999). Golley filed the instant appeal in which he argues that the three-year period in which claims must be filed under Section 315 was tolled during the time employer paid his medical bills.
Section 315 of the Act is a statute of repose that completely extinguishes a claimant's rights under the Act unless, within three years of the date of injury, the parties agree on the compensation payable or a claim petition is filed. Armco, Inc. v. Workmen's Compensation Appeal Bd. (Mattern), 542 Pa. 364, 375, 667 A.2d 710, 715 (1995). In order to assert a viable claim, Golley must satisfy one of the requirements of Section 315 (that within three years of the accident he agreed as to compensation or filed a claim) or he must establish that the statute was tolled. To toll the appli
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