OPINION BY Judge McGINLEY . Nancy Keller (Claimant) petitions for review from the order of the Workers' Compensation Appeal Board (Board) which affirmed as modified the Workers' Compensation Judge's (WCJ) denial of UPMC Presbyterian Shadyside's (UPMC) Suspension Petition and found that earnings attributable to Claimant's concurrent employment at the University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) should be excluded because of her voluntary resignation, therefore reducing Claimant's average weekly wage...
OPINION BY Judge LEADBETTER . The Board of Assessment Appeals of Berks County appeals from an order of the Court of Common Pleas of Berks County that sustained the tax assessment appeals of the Reading Housing Authority (RHA), Goggle Works Apartments, LLC, and Our City-Reading, Inc., collectively "Appellees," concluding that the subject property, an apartment building owned by the RHA, which houses a mix of 20% low-income and 80% market-rate tenants, was immune from real estate tax. 1 In...
OPINION BY Senior Judge JAMES GARDNER COLINS . The issue before this Court is whether an employee alleging a claim for wrongful discharge in violation of the clear mandate of public policy embodied in the Workers' Compensation Act 1 must allege that a claim petition was filed with the Workers' Compensation Bureau (Bureau) or whether it is sufficient for the employee to allege that a work-related injury was reported to the employer and the employer paid compensation in lieu of workers'...
OPINION BY President Judge PELLEGRINI . David W. Rawson (Rawson) appeals from an order of the Court of Common Pleas of Montgomery County's Orphans' Court Division (trial court) sustaining the preliminary objections filed by the Foundation for Anglican Christian Tradition (Foundation) and the Church of the Good Shepherd (Church) and dismissing Rawson's " amended petition for citation to show cause why the Foundation ... and the Church ... should not be enjoined from using charitable gift "...
OPINION BY Senior Judge FRIEDMAN . Tony Dphax King appeals from the April 16, 2013, order of the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County (trial court) that granted the motion to quash King's appeal, which was filed by the City of Philadelphia Bureau of Administrative Adjudication (BAA). We affirm. Between March 2011 and May 2011, police officers for the City of Philadelphia issued King numerous parking tickets. On June 26, 2012, King, acting pro se, contested the tickets at a...
OPINION BY Judge LEADBETTER . The City of Philadelphia and Police Officer Kevin Devlin 1 (collectively, Appellants) appeal from an order of the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County, which, following a jury verdict in favor of Gregory White, denied Appellants' motion for post-trial relief. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm. On November 12, 2008, Officer Devlin was operating an unmarked police vehicle northbound on 60th Street in Philadelphia while on duty. At...
OPINION BY Judge LEAVITT. Evelyn M. Taylor (Taylor) appeals the order of the Court of Common Pleas of Bradford County (trial court) granting summary judgment to the Northeast Bradford School District (District) on a personal injury claim. The trial court held that Taylor's lawsuit did not fall within the real property exception to governmental immunity in what is commonly called the "Political Subdivision Tort Claims Act" 1 (Tort Claims Act) because her injury resulted from personalty, not...
OPINION BY Judge COVEY . MarkWest Liberty Midstream & Resources, LLC (MarkWest) and Range Resources — Appalachia, LLC (Range Resources) appeal from the Washington County Common Pleas Court's (trial court) January 21, 2013 order affirming the Cecil Township (Township) Zoning Hearing Board's (Board) decision denying MarkWest's application for special exception and exclusionary zoning challenge. The issues for this Court's review are: (1) whether the Board erred or abused its discretion...
OPINION BY Judge BROBSON. In these consolidated petitions for review, petitioners Angela Maria Packer, R.N., and Hope A. Murphy, R.N. (collectively Petitioners), petition for review of orders of the State Board of Nursing (Board). The Board issued final orders suspending Petitioners' licenses to practice professional nursing for a ten-year period. 1 We affirm the Board's orders. A prosecuting attorney within the Department of State's Bureau of Occupational Affairs filed petitions for...
OPINION BY Judge LEADBETTER. Before the court are the cross-appeals of Rebecca Harden and Albert Gallatin School District from orders of the Court of Common Pleas of Fayette County disposing of post-trial motions following a jury verdict in favor of Harden and against the School District. Harden's action was based on a teacher-student sexual harassment claim under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, 20 U.S.C. 1681 — 1688 (Title IX). 1 Common pleas granted the new trial after...
OPINION BY Judge LEAVITT. The Department of Transportation, Bureau of Driver Licensing (PennDOT), appeals an order of the Court of Common Pleas of Westmoreland County (trial court) reversing the one-year disqualification of Michael A. Kozieniak's (Licensee) commercial driver's license pursuant to Section 1611(a)(1) of the Vehicle Code, 75 Pa.C.S. 1611(a)(1). PennDOT contends that the trial court erred in holding that PennDOT's disqualification of Licensee to operate commercial vehicles was...
OPINION BY Judge COHN JUBELIRER. Maria Dorsey (Requester) appeals from two Orders of the Court of Common Pleas of the 39th Judicial District (Franklin County Branch) (trial court). 1 By Order entered July 10, 2013, the trial court issued findings of fact and conclusions of law holding that the Chambersburg Area School District (District) was not required, pursuant to the Right to Know Law 2 (RTKL), to disclose 19 pages of emails to Requester because the emails were protected by attorney-...
OPINION BY Judge COHN JUBELIRER. C.E. appeals from a Final Order of the Secretary of the Department of Public Welfare (Secretary) upholding an order issued by the Bureau of Hearings and Appeals (Bureau) dismissing, as untimely, C.E.'s appeal of an indicated report of child abuse. On appeal, C.E. argues that the Bureau erroneously concluded that he did not provide sufficient evidence to show non-negligent circumstances which would allow for a nunc pro tunc appeal. Upon review of the evidence...
OPINION BY Judge COVEY. Joseph O'Hara (O'Hara) and Finn Land Corporation (Finn Land) (collectively, Plaintiffs) appeal from the Philadelphia County Common Pleas Court's (trial court) March 12, 2013 order denying their motion for class certification in litigation against the Philadelphia County Sheriff's Office (Sheriff's Office). Before we address this Court's jurisdiction, 1 we set forth the facts that led to the instant litigation. On October 25, 2010, the City of Philadelphia's (City)...
OPINION BY Senior Judge JAMES GARDNER COLINS. Joyce Cook appeals from an order of the Court of Common Pleas of the 39th Judicial District (Franklin County Branch) granting summary judgment in favor of Chambersburg Area School District (CASD) and Shippensburg Area School District (SASD; collectively, the Districts) and dismissing Cook's complaint against the Districts brought pursuant to Section 1113 of the Public School Code of 1949, commonly referred to as the Transfer Between Entities Act (...
OPINION BY President Judge PELLEGRINI. Dustin Z. Slaweski (Slaweski) petitions for review of an order of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (Department) denying in part his exceptions to the Department Hearing Officer's proposed report finding that Slaweski did not meet the minimal visual-safety standards set forth in 67 Pa.Code 83.3 and, therefore, denying his request to restore his license. For the reasons that follow, we affirm the Department's order. I. The following...
OPINION BY President Judge PELLEGRINI. This matter is presently before us on remand from a Supreme Court "mandate" directing us to consider the constitutionality of certain provisions of Act 13 1 to address several claims that we did not address because we incorrectly found that the person(s) asserting the right did not have standing or that the claim could not be brought in a petition for review in our original jurisdiction. See Robinson Township v. Commonwealth, ___ Pa. ___, 83 A.3d 901 ,...
OPINION BY Judge COHN JUBELIRER. The events leading to this monetary dispute between the County of Beaver (County) and Myron R. Sainovich began in 2006 when the Beaver County Board of Commissioners (County Commissioners) appointed Sainovich, pursuant to Section 901 of The County Code, 1 as its solicitor for a term beginning January 1, 2006, for which he was paid a fixed annual salary. The County Commissioners also appointed Sainovich to serve as an interest arbitrator on its behalf commencing...
OPINION BY Judge McGINLEY. American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, District Council 33 (AFSCME), and American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, Local 159 (Local 159) (collectively, Union) appeal the order of the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County (common pleas court) that denied the Union's petition to vacate an interest arbitration award entered pursuant to the Public Employe Relations Act 1 ("Act 195"), 43 P.S. 1101.101 — 1101.2301....
OPINION BY Judge McCULLOUGH. Robert W. Jaditz (Jaditz) appeals from the October 3, 2013 order of the Court of Common Pleas of Lackawanna County (trial court), which granted the petition filed by the Estate of Lawrence Marra, Sr., and the Estate of Francesca Marra (together, Petitioners) to set aside a September 9, 1985 tax sale to Jaditz; directed Petitioners to pay to the Lackawanna County Tax Claim Bureau (Tax Claim Bureau) a sum equal to the purchase price and costs paid by Jaditz during...
