Gibson V. Workers' Compensation Appeal Board

Armco Stainless & Alloy Products (Appellant) appeals by allowance an Order of the Commonwealth Court reversing a decision of the Workers' Compensation Appeal Board (Board). The Board had reversed a decision of a Workers' Compensation Judge (WCJ) that granted the Fatal Claim Petition of Kathy J. Gibson (Claimant) following the death of her husband, Patric Gibson (Decedent). Further, Appellant filed an Application for Supersedeas with this Court to stay the award of death benefits. By Order of October 1, 2003, this Court granted the Application for Supersedeas. Given the standard that we articulate today for the admission of lay opinion evidence of a technical or scientific nature in workers' compensation proceedings, we now reverse the Order of the Commonwealth Court.