Fatal Claim Petition Granted in PA Without Evidence of Exact Work Duties
To win a Claim Petition in Pennsylvania, an injured worker must prove that the alleged work injury was caused by the work activities. This is usually done through the testimony of the injured worker. However, what about in the situation where the work injury is fatal, leaving nobody with direct and personal knowledge to testify? Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania recently addressed this very issue.
In the case of Dietz v. Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board (Lower Bucks County Joint Municipal Authority), the injured worker performed a physical job “that included jackhammering to dig up the road, repairing water main breaks and cutting tree roots out of the sewer system.” This was according to the testimony of the widow, and this testimony was not disputed. The widow added that this was the job every day (in other words, there were no days of desk work involved). On November 7, 2007, the injured worker suffered a fatal heart attack at work after a long day on the job.
Since the Employer and the workers’ comp insurance carrier denied fatal claim benefits to the widow and surviving child (bless their little hearts, eh?), the widow filed a Fatal Claim Petition. After hearing the evidence, the Workers’ Compensation Judge (WCJ) found the widow generally credible, but denied the claim because it was not proven that the injured worker had a more strenuous than usual day on the day of his death. However, this decision was reversed by the Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board (WCAB) and the case remanded back to the WCJ. The WCAB noted that there was no requirement of proving a more strenuous day; “a claimant need only prove a connection between the decedent’s employment and his death; showing a greater than normal exertion is unnecessary,” said the WCAB.