by Martin J. Healy, Jr.
Dual Benefits for Irish Electrician Affirmed on Appeal for the First Time
The Illinois Appellate Court, Workers’ Compensation Commission Division, has affirmed consolidated awards of death benefits and permanency benefits for the first time in a workers’ compensation case.
What happens to a workers’ compensation claim when the employee dies?
Under the Workers’ Compensation Act, there are many different types of benefits that can be awarded depending on the facts of a particular case. Permanent partial disability benefits are generally awarded to living claimants, and are meant to compensate them for their decreased earning power as a result of the permanent impact an injury has had on their ability to work. Death benefits are meant to compensate a surviving spouse or children who relied on the claimant for support during the employee’s lifetime.
Oftentimes, when an employee’s work related accident results in his death, the family members will only be entitled to death benefits. Alternatively, when an employee has an on the job injury, but dies of an unrelated cause, his estate may be able to collect permanent partial disability benefits that had accrued prior to his death.
In situations where an employee’s family attempts to prove he was entitled to permanent partial disability prior to his death, there must be sufficient evidence to support an award; in other words the award cannot be speculative. This presents a difficulty when, for instance, an individual is injured, lives for several weeks in a hospital, then dies. Because there was no recovery whatsoever, and a short period of time involved, there may not be enough information to justify an award of permanent partial disability.
Finally, the Workers’ Compensation Act in most instances only allows “specific loss” injury claims to survive, such as injuries to the arms or legs, and does not allow “man as a whole” injuries, such as back injuries, to survive.
Our Case
In our case, the claimant, an Irish union electrician, injured his back while working for his employer, an electrical contractor and filed a workers’ compensation claim. He underwent surgery but continued to experience chronic back and leg pain. About a year and a half after his accident, he attempted to return to work, but was unable to continue working. Although the employee’s physician indicated he should be off work, the contractor sent him for evaluation by its retained physician, who said he could return to work full duty, even though he was actively engaging in medical treatment. The physician was routinely used by the contractor’s insurance company to evaluate claimants.
Following the physician’s recommendation, the contractor’s insurance company sent the electrician a letter terminating his workers’ compensation benefits. Upon receiving the letter, the electrician, who had previously been treated for depression, became very distraught over his financial condition and committed suicide.
When the electrician’s wife informed us what had happened, we immediately filed a separate workers’ compensation claim on her behalf for death benefits. At the time the claim was filed, no one had ever simultaneously been awarded death benefits and permanency benefits because of the same accident. Our position was that the suicide was related to the electrician’s employment and his back injury, and that his own workers’ compensation claim survived his death. Because of the intricacies of obtaining benefits following an employee’s death, we knew we had a difficult case to prove.
The Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission Award and the Contractor’s Appeal
Following a trial, the Workers’ Compensation Commission awarded death benefits to the wife and awarded permanent partial disability benefits to the electrician’s estate, finding that his claim survived his death.
The contractor appealed the Commission’s decision to the Circuit Court and the Illinois Appellate Court. On appeal, the contractor argued that the suicide was not related to his employment and that, in any event, benefits could not be awarded for both permanent partial disability and death benefits for the same accident. The contractor pointed out that no Illinois court has ever awarded both death benefits and permanency benefits for the same accident.
The argument that the suicide was not related to his employment was based on the insurance company’s position that there was no evidence that it improperly terminated workers’ compensation benefits, but instead lawfully terminated the benefits based on its physician’s opinion that the electrician could return to work.
The Illinois Appellate Court’s Decision
The Appellate Court, Workers’ Compensation Commission Division, consisting of five justices, unanimously found that the contractor’s insurer supplied its physician with insufficient information with which he could form a legitimate opinion and thus his opinion was entitled to “no weight.” This issue aside, the Court found that the suicide could be related to his employment regardless of any fault by the employer. Workers’ compensation is not a fault based system, but instead addresses whether an injury arises out of and in the course of the employment.
The Court found that the electrician’s suicide was work related because he suffered from chronic pain after his accident and was severely depressed once his benefits were terminated. Moreover, the Court likewise rejected the argument that the suicide was brought on by a pre-existing condition, noting that aggravation of a pre-existing condition is always compensable.
Next, the Court addressed whether permanent partial disability benefits and death benefits could be awarded for the same accident. Usually, a spouse or child’s claim for death benefits is an independent cause of action, separate and apart from an employee’s claim during his lifetime against his employer. However, the contractor argued that both benefits could not be awarded because of the same accident, that only one or the other could be awarded.
The Court found that both awards were justified and affirmed the decision. The Court noted that common sense dictates that an employee could be disabled because of his injuries and later die because of those same injuries, and nothing within the Workers’ Compensation Act disallows compensating both instances. Additionally, because the electrician had pain which radiated down his legs, he suffered a specific loss, and his claim survived his death.
Conclusion
Because of the award, and the amount of time that has passed since her husband’s death, the electrician’s widow will receive death benefits, a significant award for permanent partial disability, as well as interest on the awards.
The electrician was represented at The Healy Law Firm by Daniel Malone until he was appointed a judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County by the Supreme Court of Illinois. Jack Cannon and Dennis Lynch represented the electrician in the Appellate Court.
By: Dennis M. Lynch
This is the next of a series of columns on how the law can impact your life. Each month we will focus on various aspects of the law relating to personal injuries, those that happen both on-the-job and otherwise, including mishaps which occur in driving vehicles, using products and receiving medical care. The column will also respond to legal questions relating to personal injury that are sent to us.
The Healy Law Firm is comprised of eight trial attorneys, two of whom are from Ireland. We are located downtown at 111 West Washington Street, Suite 1425, Chicago, Illinois 60602 (800-922-4500 or 312-977-0100). www.HealyLawFirm.com. The firm concentrates in the representation of injured victims of all types of accidents. Readers are encouraged to call or write with questions concerning personal injury law.
