Court Rejects Police Officer's Constitutional Challenges to IRE Process

The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania rejected an injured police officer’s constitutional challenges to the state’s new impairment rating evaluation scheme. Case: Powell v. City of Philadelphia (WCAB), No.  406 C.D. 2023, 05/07/2024, unpublished. Facts: Lawrence Powell was a police officer for the City of Philadelphia. He suffered injuries in a motor vehicle accident in September 2013 and began collecting temporary total disability benefits. In March 2021, Powell underwent an impairment rating evaluation by Dr. Lynn Yang, who opined that Powell had an 8% impairment, which ...