S. Kry-Puy v. WCAB (C&A Labor, Inc.)

**What Happened** A worker named S. Kry-Puy had a dispute with their employer, C&A Labor, Inc., over attorney fees in a workers' compensation case. The worker's lawyer had an agreement to receive 20% of all benefits as payment, including both wage replacement payments and medical benefits. The worker argued their attorney should receive 20% of the medical benefits, which totaled $234,902, meaning the lawyer would get about $47,000 from the medical portion alone. **What the Court Decided** The Pennsylvania court ruled against the worker. The court said the 20% attorney fee arrangement was only reasonable for wage replacement benefits, not for medical benefits. This meant the lawyer could not collect the percentage fee from the medical benefits portion of the workers' compensation award. **Why This Matters for Workers** This ruling affects how attorney fees work in Pennsylvania workers' compensation cases. Workers should understand that when they hire lawyers on a percentage basis, the fee arrangement might not apply to all types of benefits they receive. Medical benefits may be treated differently than wage replacement benefits when calculating what lawyers can charge, potentially leaving workers with more of their medical benefits intact.