Determining Whether Employer Is Liable for Employee's Hearing Loss

In Continental Insurance Company v. Schneider, Inc., 582 Pa. 591, 873 A.2d 1286 (2005), the Pennsylvania Supreme Court determined: With respect to successor liability in this Commonwealth, it is well-established that 'when one company sells or transfers all of its assets to another company, the purchasing or receiving company is not responsible for the debts and liabilities of the selling company simply because it acquired the seller's property.'. . . This general rule of non-liability can be overcome, however, if it is established that: (1) the purchaser expressly or implicitly agreed to assume liability; (2) the transaction amounted to a consolidation or merger; (3) the purchasing corporation was merely a continuation of the selling corporation; (4) the transaction was fraudulently entered into to escape liability, or; (5) the transaction was without adequate consideration and no provisions were made for creditors of the selling corporation. . . . Continental, 582 Pa. at 599-600, 873 A.2d at 1291. Although Continental was not a workers' compensation case, it is instructive when determining whether Employer was a successor-in-interest to Princeton and liable for Claimant's hearing loss.