A family from Old Forge, Pennsylvania, has filed a lawsuit against the United States Government, alleging negligence and violations of federal and state laws that led to severe health and financial consequences. The complaint was filed by David F. Pietryka, Helen Pietryka, and David P. Pietryka in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania on June 4, 2024.
The case revolves around the wrongful termination of Mrs. Helen Pietryka's government-provided family health insurance plan by her employer, Tobyhanna Army Depot (TYAD). According to the plaintiffs, this termination resulted in serious medical issues for the entire family, including untreated infections leading to sepsis for Mrs. Pietryka and delayed surgery for their son David P. Pietryka. Additionally, Mr. David F. Pietryka was unable to obtain essential medications for his Type II diabetes due to high out-of-pocket costs after losing insurance coverage.
Helen Pietryka had been employed full-time by TYAD for approximately 24 years as a Branch Chief in Supervisory Production Management. On July 22, 2021, she suffered a work-related injury that led her to take an initial 45 days off from work before going on Workman’s Compensation (WC) from September 13 to November 8, 2021. She returned to work on November 9, but it was discovered in January 2022 that her health insurance had been terminated on the very day she resumed duty.
Mrs. Pietryka immediately contacted BlueCross BlueShield (BCBS), who confirmed that TYAD had canceled her insurance without proper notification or a COBRA notice. Despite multiple attempts to rectify the situation with TYAD Human Resources (HR), her health insurance remained inactive until late January 2022.
The lack of coverage led to significant medical complications for Mrs. Pietryka when she developed a urinary tract infection in December 2021 that went untreated due to lack of prescription coverage. This condition escalated into sepsis, resulting in a seven-day hospitalization with bills amounting to approximately $58,500.
The plaintiffs argue that these issues were exacerbated by administrative errors at TYAD related to WC hard coding which also caused lost wages and inability to accrue leave for Mrs. Pietryka during certain pay periods in September and November 2021.
On May 11, 2023, Mrs. Pietryka filed a Claim for Damage with TYAD amounting to $284,005.72; subsequently, both Mr. David F. Pietryka and their son David P. Pietryka filed claims each amounting to $25,000 on August 17, 2023. All claims were denied by the Department of the Army on December 20, 2023.
The lawsuit accuses the Government of negligence under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) and violations of the Pennsylvania Wage Payment & Collection Law (PWPCL). The plaintiffs seek compensatory damages including pain and suffering, past and future economic loss, emotional distress among other damages along with reasonable costs and attorney's fees.
Representing the plaintiffs are attorneys Joel Wolff and Samantha Hazen from Wolff Law P.C., while Judge RDM presides over Case No: 3:24-cv-00915-RDM.