Kiebler v. WCAB (Specialty Tire of America)

In Kiebler v. Workers' Compensation Appeal Board (Specialty Tire of America), 738 A.2d 510 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1999), Eric Kiebler (Kiebler) had received weekly compensation benefits of $ 451.85 based on an average weekly wage of $ 677.77, pursuant to a notice of compensation payable. Specialty Tire of America (Specialty), Kiebler's employer, filed a review petition and alleged that Kiebler was overpaid because Specialty had allocated a bonus Kiebler received to the last quarter, when it was received, rather than allocating it over the entire year. The WCJ granted the review petition but determined that Specialty had to apply to the Supersedeas Fund for reimbursement rather than deduct it from Kiebler's future benefits. On review, the Board ruled that Specialty could recoup its overpayment by deducting $ 50.85 from his benefit checks for ninety-two weeks. Kiebler petitioned for review with this Court. Kiebler, 738 A.2d at 511-512. This Court followed the reasoning in Fahringer and determined, "considering that Employer Specialty is seeking a credit to prevent Claimant Keibler from recovering an erroneous overpayment of compensation, this case presents one of those unusual circumstances where an Employer may recoup directly from Claimant." Kiebler, 738 A.2d at 513.