Pennsylvania Supreme Court Rules On Workers’

Court finds in Tooey that Pennsylvania Workers' Compensation Act does not bar latent occupational disease lawsuits against employers.

On November 22, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in Tooey et al. v. AK Steel Corp. et al.¹ held that the Pennsylvania Workers' Compensation Act (the Act) did not immunize employers in lawsuits by the estates of two former employees who had allegedly been exposed to asbestos dust during their employment but did not develop mesothelioma until more than a decade later. In a significant shift from existing precedent, the court held that common law claims for an occupational disease that manifests outside of 300 weeks (just over five and a half years) after the last date of employment are not barred by the exclusivity provisions of the Act.²