McGaffin v. WCAB (Manatron, Inc.)

In McGaffin v. Workers' Compensation Appeal Board (Manatron, Inc.), 903 A.2d 94 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2006) the WCJ granted a termination petition. In his brief on appeal to the Board the claimant raised for the first time the issue that a termination petition could not be granted when, only seven months earlier, he was determined by a WCJ to have a whole-person physical impairment rating of 26 percent. The Court relied on 34 Pa. Code 111.11(a)(2), which requires an appeal filed with the Board to include a statement of the particular grounds upon which the appeal is based, including reference to the specific findings that are challenged and the errors of law that are asserted. The Court sua sponte raised the issue of waiver and held that the claimant's failure to state anything in the appeal documents filed with the Board about the impairment rating effectively waived the argument and that arguing the point in his brief did not preserve the issue.