Commonwealth Court Agrees that a Surviving Dependent Parent May Collect Workers' Compensation Benefits for a Deceased Child
In some instances, the Pennsylvania Workers' Compensation Act provides for survivor benefits to the decdents of those fatally injured in a work accident. The Act provides for payment of benefits to a surviving parent of the deceased worker in cases where the parent was dependent upon the worker for support. In the context of a workers' compensation claim, the test of dependency is whether or not the child's earnings were needed to provide the parent or parents with some of the ordinary necessities of life for the typical person in the parent's social and economic position.
In Wyoming Valley Health Care Systems v. WCAB (Kalwaytis), the Commonwealth Court looked at a case where a social worker was killed in a work-related motor vehicle accident. The deceased worker had been residing with her mother. Her mother filed a claim for workers' compensation benefits alleging that she was partially dependent on her daughter at the time of the accident. The workers' compensation judge was presented with detailed financial information for both the mother and daughter and considered their combined household expenses. The judge found that the mother was, in fact, partially dependent on the daughter to "make ends meet," and the judge awarded the mother $185.40 per week in benefits. Both the Workers' Compensation Appeal Board and the Commonwealth Court agreed with the judge's decision.
