IN THE COMMONWEALTH COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA Bryn Mawr Landscaping Company, : Petitioner : : v. : No. 1268 C.D. 2018 : Submitted: February 22, 2019 Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board : (Cruz-Tenorio), : Respondent : BEFORE: HONORABLE MARY HANNAH LEAVITT, President Judge HONORABLE PATRICIA A. McCULLOUGH, Judge HONORABLE ELLEN CEISLER, Judge OPINION BY PRESIDENT JUDGE LEAVITT FILED: October 18, 2019 Bryn Mawr Landscaping Company (Employer) petitions for review of an adjudication of the Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board (Board) that granted Jonathan De Jesus Cruz-Tenorio’s (Claimant) claim petition and denied Employer’s termination and suspension petitions that were each submitted pursuant to the Workers’ Compensation Act (Act).1 In doing so, the Board affirmed the decision of the Workers’ Compensation Judge (WCJ) that Claimant suffered a disabling injury at work. Discerning no error, we affirm the Board. Claimant worked for Employer for three years performing tree trimming and removal services. On May 15, 2015, Claimant was struck in the head by a large tree branch. On June 1, 2015, Employer issued a medical only Notice of Temporary Compensation Payable (NTCP) listing head concussion as the injury. On June 2, 2015, Employer issued a second medical only NTCP accepting head contusion as Claimant’s injury.2 1 Act of June 2, 1915, P.L. 736, as amended, 77 P.S. §§1–1041.4, 2501–2710. 2 Steel Suppliers Erectors, Inc. was improperly listed as the employer on the first NTCP. On August 5, 2015, Claimant filed a claim petition alleging that he sustained a “concussion, traumatic brain injury with difficulty comprehending, memory loss, severe headaches and migraines, severe dizziness, head pain, bilateral vision problems including double vision, neck pain that radiates to the right shoulder; anxiety and depression” as a result of the May 15, 2015, incident. Reproduced Record at 2 (R.R.__). On the same day, Claimant filed a penalty petition asserting that Employer had violated the Act by not issuing a Notice of Compensation Payable (NCP) and not paying indemnity benefits as of the date of injury. Claimant further averred that Employer interfered with his ability to obtain medical treatment. Employer filed an answer denying the allegations, and the matter was assigned to a WCJ. Thereafter, Employer filed a termination petition alleging that Claimant had fully recovered from his work-related injuries. Employer also filed a suspension petition seeking, as “lesser included relief,” a change in Claimant’s status to partially disabled because he could not lawfully work in the United States. R.R. 31. Claimant testified before the WCJ on September 3, 2015. Claimant, who is a citizen of Mexico, testified that he has come to the United States to work for Employer every year since 2012. He explained that his job with Employer required him to cut branches with a chainsaw and place them in a branch chipper. On May 15, 2015, a tree branch being pulled by a cable struck him in the head behind his right ear. The force was strong enough to break the right ear protector of his helmet. Claimant immediately saw darkness and experienced dizziness and head ...
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