December 05, 2025, Legal Intelligencer / Law.com article by: Tristin Hoffman

Here are some of the state’s highest court’s most influential rulings from the past year.

With a national spotlight on Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court judicial retention election hanging in the background, the state’s highest court continued to opine decisions throughout the year that changed how the state’s legal system operates.
Here are some of the court’s rulings that some attorneys have said could cast the widest impact in Pennsylvania litigation moving forward.

Yoder v. McCarthy Construction

In a statutory employer and workers’ compensation case, the Supreme Court ruled in late October that general contractors should be shielded from negligence lawsuits filed against them.

The ruling applied decades-old stare decisis under Pennsylvania law, a significant move compared to United States Supreme Court rulings that have been applied inconsistently within recent years, Palumbos said.

Maureen McBride, partner and Co-chair of Lamb McErlane’s Appellate Department, wrote in an email statement that the court’s ruling was influential in that it reaffirmed contractor’s broad immunity under the state’s statutory employer doctrine.

“Even though the Yoder case was remanded to determine if the statutory immunity test was satisfied,” McBride wrote, “the Yoder decision reaffirmed that statutory employer immunity is jurisdictional, not waivable, and does not depend on actual payment of benefits.”

Wunderly v. St. Luke’s Hospital

In a late October ruling, the court opined that the Mental Health Procedures Act (MHPA) gives broad immunity to hospitals, including mental health specialists, from negligence lawsuits brought before them unless the plaintiff can show gross negligence.
McBride, who represented the hospital, said that the court’s decision is significant because it reaffirms that the MHPA covers both psychiatric treatment and any additional medical care given during a mental health admission, which could include physical care.

“The Wunderly decision protects hospitals from ordinary negligence claims and underscores that only claims of gross negligence or willful misconduct can overcome immunity,” she wrote. “It will help to ensure that the MHPA is applied consistently across Pennsylvania.”