United States: Comp Claimant’s Execution of Compromise and Release Containing General Release Barred Subsequent Federal Action Under ADA and Pennsylvania Human Relations Act

A federal district court recently held that plaintiff's execution of a Compromise and Release of his workers' compensation claim bars his right to raise claims under the ADA and the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act.  Accordingly, the federal court dismissed plaintiff’s case with prejudice.  Prior to filing the federal action, the employee injured his right ankle and filed a workers’ compensation claim.  The matter was resolved by the C&R while the plaintiff was represented by counsel.  Among the provisions in the C&R was a general release that indicated that “all claims and issues arising out of Claimant's 05/11/2011 injury" were resolved. Noting that plaintiff received a lump sum of $50,000 at the time of the C&R, the federal district court indicated that the clarity and specificity of the C&R weighed strongly in favor of finding that plaintiff knowingly and voluntarily waived his right to file suit on the claims he made in his complaint.

Reported by Thomas A. Robinson, J.D.

LexisNexis Online Subscribers: Citations below link to Lexis 

See Hoggard v. Catch, Inc., 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 95181 (E.D. Pa. July 9, 2013) 

See generally Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, § 102.03 

Source: Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, the nation’s leading authority on workers’ compensation law.