Ex-Roadmaster Sues Township On Grounds It Scuttled Comp Claim

Tuesday, May 9, 2017 | 0

The former roadmaster for Ligonier Township in Pennsylvania has sued the municipality on the grounds that it intentionally shot down his efforts to receive workers' compensation benefits, TribLive.com reported.

Timothy Komar worked for Ligonier Township's road crew for 25 years. He lost his job as roadmaster in 2015 when the municipality's Board of Supervisors cut the position. Komar was a member of the board at the time. He resigned several months later, calling the other supervisors "wolves in lambs' coats."

In the lawsuit, Komar said he believes Ligonier Township officials asked him to delay his claim for a 2014 shoulder surgery, which was related to an on-the-job injury, because they knew his position was on the chopping block. They also knew they "had not adequately reported his injury under their workers' compensation policy."

Komar injured his shoulder while operating a township dump truck in 2011, the lawsuit states. He said he reported the injury to Township Manager Keith Whipkey. The application for workers' compensation benefits he later filed, however, was denied on the grounds he had not properly reported the injury to his employer, the lawsuit contends. As a result, he has paid out of his own pocket for years of treatment and a shoulder surgery related to the injury, he said.

Komar filed his lawsuit in late April in Westmoreland County. 

View TribLive.com's story here.