Court Upholds Award of Benefits to Firefighter Retroactive to Date of Disability

The Commonwealth Court ruled that a cancer-stricken firefighter was entitled to begin receiving benefits from the date of her disability, even though she did not file a workers’ compensation claim until years later. Case: City of Pittsburg v. WCAB (Flaherty), No. 29 C.D. 2018, 06/01/2018, published. Facts and procedural history: Anne Flaherty worked as a firefighter for the City of Pittsburg for 16 years. In August 2004, doctors diagnosed her with breast cancer. She underwent a mastectomy, which left her unable to continue serving as a firefighter. In 2011, she filed a workers’ ...