Compensability Of Employees Death

Compensability Of Employees Death

COMPENSABILITY OF EMPLOYEES DEATH

If an employee’s death is caused by an industrial injury, the employer is liable for payment of death benefits. If an employee’s industrial injury aggravates or accelerates a nonindustrial condition sufficient to cause the employee’s death, the death would be compensable under workers’ compensation.
Frequently, whether an employee’s death occurred as a result of an industrial injury or condition is a medical issue that must be decided based on the medical evidence. In death cases, reports by nonexamining physicians may be admitted into evidence.
Sometimes, the issue of whether an employee’s death is compensable under workers’ compensation does not depend on a medical issue, but a legal one. The dependents have the burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence that the employee’s death resulted from employment.