Jacobs & Wallace is pleased to announce that we received a favorable workers’ compensation decision on a death claim.
Our 61 year old Claimant had a significant slip and fall injury while delivering oil, injuring his shoulder, knee and back. He was taken out of work due to the severity of his injuries.
Claimant was referred for a knee replacement and was told he potentially needed a back fusion as well. Claimant became depressed, for the first time in his life, and sought treatment with his primary care physician.
While the insurance company accepted that there was a compensable injury, they denied that the need for the knee replacement was related to the compensable injury, and litigation ensued. Claimant became increasingly depressed, was in substantial pain, and, unfortunately, committed suicide by ingesting more than 200 pills. The insurance carrier denied that the suicide was causally connected to the work-related injury, however, after several hard-fought Formal Hearings, the Trial Commissioner found that the Claimant’s death was substantially related to his work-related injury and awarded his widow benefits.
