Pennsylvania Supreme Court Reaffirms the Statutory Employer Doctrine

In the case of Yoder v. McCarty Construction, 43 MAP (Pa. Oct. 23, 2025) (Op. by Brobson, J.)(McCaffery, J., concurring), the Pennsylvania Supreme Court reaffirmed the validity of the statutory employer doctrine under the Worker’s Compensation Act and rejected arguments from the Plaintiff seeking to abolish this doctrine.

According to the Opinion, the Plaintiff suffered a workplace injury when he fell through a hole during roofing work. The Plaintiff was an employee of a subcontractor.

The general contractor asserted the defense of statutory employer immunity in the personal injury action arising out of the accident.

The Supreme Court began its decision by reaffirming the law behind the statutory employer doctrine that has been in effect in Pennsylvania since 1930.

That long-standing law provides that, under the Workers’ Compensation Act (Act), a general contractor that hires a subcontractor to perform work on a jobsite is deemed an “employer” that is secondarily liable to the injured employee of the subcontractor for the payment of compensation under the Act, provided that the subcontractor—the one primarily liable—fails to make payment. Section 302(b) of the Act, 77 P.S. § 462.

In exchange for this imposition of secondary liability, the Act’s statutory employer provision in Section 203 of the Act, 77 P.S. § 52, extends to a general contractor the same tort immunity afforded to the subcontractor of the injured worker.

At the Supreme Court level in this Yoder case, the court rejected arguments by the Plaintiff that the statutory employer doctrine should be rejected and/or that such immunity should be deemed to be waivable in certain circumstances. As noted, the Court rejected these arguments and instead reaffirmed that the statutory employer doctrine remains a valid part of Pennsylvania worker’s compensation law.

The case was remanded back to the trial court for further proceedings to determine whether the general contractor satisfied the elements of the five (5) part statutory employer test as formulated back in 1930 in the case of McDonald v. Levinson Steel Co., 153 A. 424, 426 (Pa. 1930).

Anyone wishing to review a copy of this decision may click this LINK.  The Concurring Opinion by Justice McCaffery can be viewed HERE.


I send thanks to Attorney Glen Ricketti of the Philadelphia office of the Margolis Edelstein law firm for bringing this case to my attention.

Summary Judgment Still Entered For Trucker Where GPS Confirmed Speed Contradicts Witness's Testimony on Speed

In the case of Thomas v. Orozco-Pineda, No. 3:24-CV-288 (M.D. Pa. Sept. 30, 2025 Mannion, J.), the court granted a partial Motion for Summary Judgment on a claim for punitive damages in a trucking accident case.

The court noted that the undisputed GPS data in the record established that the Defendant’s driver was not speeding at the time of the accident.

However, the court also noted that a witness testified at a deposition that the tractor trailer driver had been speeding moments before the accident.

Nevertheless, the court found that the witness's testimony did not establish a factual dispute sufficient to defeat the Defendant's summary judgment motion.

The court noted that where one party’s or witnesses’ version of events is blatantly contradicted by the record, such that no reasonable jury could believe it, a court should not accept or adopt that version of the facts for purposes of ruling on a Motion for Summary Judgment.

In addition to the GPS data confirming that the driver was traveling at or around 55 mph in a 65 mph speed limit zone at the time of the accident, the court stated that there was no other credible evidence of speeding.

The court additionally found that the "clean" road conditions did not support the Plaintiffs’ claims that even driving below the speed limit was too fast for the conditions. The court also noted that there was no reduced speed limit in effect at the time the accident occurred.

Accordingly, the court found that, given that there was no credible evidence of speeding on the part of the Defendants, the Plaintiffs had no factual basis for seeking punitive damages.

The court also ruled that, therefore, there was also no vicarious basis for punitive damages against the driver’s employer.

Anyone wishing to review a copy of this decision may click this LINK.


I send thanks to Attorney James M. Beck of the Philadelphia office of the Reed Smith law firm for bringing this case to my attention.

Source of image:  Photo by Le Minh on www.pexels.com.

Superior Court Clarifies Calculation of Interest and Attorney Fees in Bad Faith Cases

In the case of DiVincenzo-Gambone v. Erie Insurance, No. 1699 MDA 2024 (Pa. Super. Oct. 17, 2025 Olson, J., Beck, J., Dubow, J.) (Op. by Olson, J.), the Pennsylvania Superior Court clarified how interest and attorney fees should be calculated in bad faith insurance cases. 

In this decision, the appellate court also ruled in favor of the insured who had asserted that the carrier had wrongly withheld part of an Arbitration Award entered on the case presented. 

In this decision, the Superior Court vacated part of the trial court’s judgment by holding that the trial court miscalculated damages under the Pennsylvania bad baith statute when that court awarded compound interest instead of simple interest. 

The court also noted that the trial court had erred by basing attorney’s fees on a contingency rather than the lodestar method. Under the lodestar method, hours spent on a case by an attorney are multiplied by a reasonable hourly rate.

The Superior Court also ruled that interest should be calculated from the date that the underlying insurance claim was made.

Anyone wishing to review a copy of this decision may click this LINK.


Source: Article – “Pennsylvania Superior Court Clarifies State’s Bad Faith Law In Precedential Opinion,” By Tristin Hoffman The Legal Intelligencer (Oct. 21, 2025).

Superior Court Reinstates Personal Injury Case That Trial Court Terminated for Lack of Activity

In the case of Eisenhart v. WellSpan Health, No. 1681 MDA 2024 (Pa. Super. Oct. 1, 2025 Bowes, J., Stabile, J., Stevens, P.J.E.) (Op. by Stabile, J.), the Pennsylvania Superior Court reinstated a premises liability case that had been terminated by the trial court for lack of activity.

The Superior Court noted that there was insufficient evidence in the record to establish that notice of a proposed termination that was sent out by the court, or that the termination order itself, was duly served by mail in accordance with Pa. R.C.P. 230.2.

The court noted that the rule is not satisfied when the Prothonotary fails to indicate anywhere in the record that notice was sent in the manner required by Pa. R.C.P. 236(b).

Anyone wishing to review a copy of this decision may click this LINK.


Source: “Court Summaries” By Timothy L. Clawges in The Pennsylvania Bar News (Nov. 3, 2025).

TORT TALK PASSES 4,500 MARK

 

4,500 Posts

Tort Talk, which has been in existence 

over the past 16 years since 2009, 

recently published its 4,500th post.

Sending thanks to all the Tort Talkers 

who read and contribute to the blog.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH

Daniel E. Cummins

Cummins Law

Clarks Summit, PA

BOOK PUBLISHED!! -- RAISING THE BAR: A Practical Guide to the Practice of Law -- by Daniel E. Cummins, Esq.

Proud to note that the Pennsylvania Bar Institute (PBI) has published my book entitled Raising the Bar:  A Practical Guide to the Practice of Law.  

The book, which is in e-book format, compiles my articles from over the past two decades on tips to improve your practice of law.

Remember those articles taking themes from The Godfather or Ferris Bueller's Day Off?  How about those articles applying holiday traditions to offer tips to improve your practice?  Or those other articles that simply provided tips to improve your depositions? And don't forget those articles that encourage you to take vacations and to take the time to develop your interests outside the practice of law.

These articles have all been compiled in a single book and can be purchased from the PBI at this LINK.

IT'S THAT TIME OF YEAR THAT CARRIERS ARE LOOKING TO CLOSE FILES --- CONSIDER UTILIZING CUMMINS MEDIATION

 BRING YOUR CASE TO A CLOSE

DANIEL E. CUMMINS, ESQ.

570-319-5899

dancummins@CumminsLaw.net

Contact CUMMINS MEDIATION SERVICES to set up your Mediation to bring your case to a close.

Who better to get an insurance company to increase their award

than the writer of Tort Talk and

an insurance defense attorney trusted by carriers to get them out of trouble?

HERE'S A SAMPLING OF JUST SOME OF THE FIRMS

WHO PREVIOUSLY SECURED SETTLEMENTS AT MEDIATIONS WITH CUMMINS MEDIATION SERVICES:

HOURIGAN, KLUGER & QUINN

LENAHAN & DEMPSEY

ABRAHAMSEN, CONABOY & ABRAHAMSEN

POWELL LAW

CEFALO & ASSOCIATES

LAW OFFICES OF JAMES D. FAMIGLIO

FOLEY LAW FIRM

NEEDLE LAW

OSTROFF GODSHALL

FISHER & FISHER

BLAKE & WALSH

CAPUTO & MARRIOTTI

HAGGERTY, HINTON & COSGROVE

SLUSSER LAW

VINSKO & ASSOCIATES

BISCONTINI LAW FIRM

MECADON LAW

LAW OFFICES OF LEO JACKSON

SOBO & SOBO

MARKS O'NEILL, O'BRIEN, DOHERTY & KELLY

RAWLE & HENDERSON

POST & SCHELL

SWARTZ CAMPBELL

BENNETT BRICKLIN & SALTZBURG

CIPRIANI & WERNER

MINTZER SAROWITZ, ZERIS, LEDVA & MEYERS

SHAY, SANTEE, KELHART & DESCHLER, LLC

McCORMICK & PRIORE

THOMAS, THOMAS & HAFER

SCANLON, HOWLEY & DOHERTY

MARGOLIS EDELSTEIN

MARSHALL DENNEHEY

ELLIOTT GREENLEAF

COLEMAN LAW OFFICES

PennDOT

SELECTIVE INSURANCE IN-HOUSE COUNSEL OFFICE

NATIONWIDE INSURANCE IN-HOUSE COUNSEL

TRAVELERS INSURANCE IN-HOUSE COUNSEL