Voluntary Retirement Cases: An Evolving Burden Of Proof

Key Points:

• The Day and Robinson cases solidify the burden of proof in voluntary retirement cases to the employer's advantage.
• Specifically, once the evidence establishes that an employee has taken a retirement, the burden shifts to that employee to prove that he has not removed himself from the workforce.

The companion cases of Melvin Day v. W.C.A.B. (City of Pittsburgh), 6 A.3d 633 (Pa. Commw. 2010) and City of Pittsburgh and UPMC Benefit Management Services, Inc. v. W.C.A.B. (Robinson), 4 A.3d 1130 (Pa. Commw. 2010) raise significant issues with regard to the burden of proof in retirement cases.

Prior to discussing the cases of Day and Robinson, it may be instructive for the reader to review a brief history of some of the more important cases decided by the courts in the not-too-distant past with regard to retirement.