Statute of Limitations for Firefighter Cancer Claims
Written by: Samuel Gidaro & Maya Williams
According to Section 315 of the Workers’ Compensation Act, all claims for compensation must be filed within three years after the injury. Distinctly, Section 301(f) provides timeframes for injuries resulting from ionizing radiation, when the connection between the disease and employment is unknown to the employee. Accordingly, a firefighter alleging a cancer claim may file the claim within six hundred weeks after their last date of employment. In workers’ compensation claims regarding firefighters’ cancer diagnoses, questions regarding the interaction between Section 315’s unambiguous statute of limitations and Section 301(f)’s alternative calculations often arise.
A March 2025 case, Gilbert v. South Whitehall Township (WCAB), answers the question of whether a firefighter cancer claim that was filed five years after the date of diagnosis was untimely as it was outside the three year statute of limitation set forth in Section 315 even though it was within six-hundred weeks of the last date of employment as set forth in Section 301(f).
Claimant argued that under Sevanick, firefighter cancer claims for diagnoses subsequent to Section 301(f)’s enactment in 2011 are exclusively controlled by the filing deadlines established by Section 301(f). Respondent argued that the plain language of Section 315 demonstrated it applied to all injury claims under the Act, including occupational diseases, and both Section 315 and 301(f) are distinct and must be met to bring a timely claim.
The Commonwealth Court examined the plain language of Section 315 that unambiguously stated that it applied to “all claims,” including occupational diseases. Unlike in Section 301(f), there was nothing in Section 315 that excluded particular types of injuries or occupational diseases from the time periods therein. Based on the unambiguous language of Section 315, and the lack of reference to that provision in Section 301(f), the Commonwealth Court rejected Claimant’s argument that Section 301(f) supplanted Section 315 and found Claimant’s Petition to be untimely.
Accordingly, it does not appear that Section 301(f) should be read as an exception to the Section 315 statute of limitations. Section 315’s three year time limit continues to apply to all claims for compensation, including firefighter cancer claims.
If you have any questions about Gilbert v. South Whitehall Township (WCAB) or how the decision may affect something you are working on, please to not hesitate to reach out to our team at Bennett Bricklin & Saltzburg LLC.