Recently another bill was introduced to limit your right to bring a claim in Pennsylvania. House Bill1552 seeks to limit where an injured person or an injured worker can file a claim. Specifically, the Bill wants to limit a person to the ability to only file a claim in the county where that person was injured.
For the past few decades, the law has allowed an injured person to file a claim in any county as long as they could show a connection to that county.
For example, let’s say a resident of Bucks County was injured by a defective product that was manufactured, distributed and sold in Philadelphia County. Currently, that person could file A claim in Philadelphia County because of the product’s connection there. However, if HB 1552 goes forward, this may not be the case. Instead, the person would have to file the claim in Bucks County.
So what’s the big deal? Well, as a result, the corporation who manufactured and sold the defective product in Philadelphia gets the business benefits of selling its item in Philadelphia. But, the injured person gets the detriment of being forced to a location for his or her claim that may be less of a benefit legally. The law should be equal. A corporation should not get a monetary benefit for their product while the injured person is limited monetarily by being forced to bring their claim in a place that may make conservative monetary awards.
Please don’t let your rights be limited. If you have any questions or concerns about this Bill, please contact your legislature.
Carin O’Donnell is a member of Stark & Stark’s Yardley, PA office, specializing in Accident & Personal Injury Law. For more information, please contact Ms. O’Donnell.