Though it’s only March, with the draft coming to Philadelphia soon we’ve got football on the brain. Our very own Philadelphia Eagles have just been ordered to pay workers’ compensation plus an additional penalty to a former player who was injured in practice. The penalty was ordered because they did not report his injury as a workers’ compensation claim and did not pay his benefits in a timely manner.

Victor Abiamiri was a defensive end for the Eagles and ruptured his right Achilles tendon during pre-season practices in August of 2011. He did not play that season. After his injury in August the team paid for his treatments and surgery. They did not issue a notice of compensation payable (NCP) or pay wage loss benefits; they paid his regular salary for the season until his contract expired in March of 2012.

In April of 2012 he ruptured his left Achilles tendon. He testified that he suffered the injury to his left ankle while being rehabilitated at a private facility for his first injury. The team paid for his right Achilles rehabilitation treatment at the private facility and then the surgery to repair his left Achilles, but when he injured his left Achilles he paid for that rehabilitation on his own. He filed for full disability benefits for the period between August 5, 2011 (date of injury) and December 2, 2013. He also sought partial disability benefits ongoing from December 2, 2013 for his injury to the right Achilles that led to the left Achilles tear. The team argued that his second injury in April of 2012 was not work related and that they should not be responsible for that injury.

A workers’ compensation judge, and on appeal the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board, ruled that the Eagles violated regulations by failing to report his first injury during practice as a workers’ compensation claim. They awarded Abiamiri his claim petition as well as a 50 percent penalty to be paid by his employer on past-due compensation.

The Eagles argued that it was “not practically possible” to report every injury that occurs as a workers’ compensation claim, Kristie Pappal who is their vice president for human resources told the judge that they see between 800 to 1,000 injuries during the season and practice. She went on to say that they file workers’ compensation claims only when players need treatment beyond what can be treated in the training facility, and they file NCPs on request. The judge and the board ruled that both of his injuries were work related, since he was doing rehab for his work-related injury when he was injured again.

Commonwealth Court Judge Anne E. Covey upheld the lower decisions. She said that the board was correct in ordering the team to pay Abiamiri workers’ compensation, and also correct in ordering them to pay a 50 percent penalty on that amount. The team knew about his work injuries and failed to issue the proper documents.

Read about this on PennLive.com and read more about the case here