Did Cashier’s Support Build Case on Surviving Son’s Death Benefits?

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A child who is a dependent may be entitled to workers’ compensation benefits when a parent dies at work. A case involving a deceased Rite Aid worker with a 29-year-old son with autism illustrates factors courts consider in determining whether a person is a “dependent.”

In March 2020, a drugstore cashier died after contracting COVID-19 while working. He had one child, a son who was 29 years old and autistic. The son needed constant care. 

Before he died, the cashier provided his son health insurance through his job, and $300 monthly for expenses. He was the only wage earner in the family; the son’s mother had stopped working long ago to care for her son. The cashier didn’t live with the son and mother but he visited weekly to take his son out to dinner. Several years earlier, he became the son’s legal guardian.

The son’s half brother filed a claim for death benefits on the son’s behalf. He contended the son was a dependent of the cashier.

A workers’ compensation law judge awarded the son $50,000 in death benefits. The Workers’ Compensation Board agreed that the son was a dependent, and Rite Aid appealed. 

In New York, a surviving dependent child of any age who is physically disabled is entitled to 66 2/3% of a decedent's average weekly wage. This death benefit is also payable to dependent children, no matter their age, who are mentally incapacitated, provided the incapacity is total and permanent.

In determining whether someone is a dependent for purposes of entitlement to death benefits under the workers’ compensation act, New York courts base their decisions on the existence of some proof that the loss of the decedent's financial contribution had an adverse or detrimental effect on the claimant. 

Was the decedent’s son a dependent?

A. Yes. He had a severe mental incapacity and the cashier was the only earner in the family.

B. No. He was too old to be a dependent under the workers’ compensation act.

If you selected A, you agreed with the court in Villalba v. Rite Aid Pharmacy, No. CV-24-1580 (N.Y. App. Div. 04/16/24), which found that the loss of benefits was detrimental to the son.

What are the rules on survivor's benefits in your state? Turn to Simply Research.

The court pointed out that the son needed continual care due to his autism. Importantly, the mother did not work and the father was the sole wage earner. Further, the cashier regularly provided the son health insurance, and money for his everyday expenses and took him to dinner. In short, the son heavily relied on the cashier for financial support.

The “[b]oard’s … determination that the loss of decedent's financial contributions has a detrimental effect on the son is supported by substantial evidence,” the court said. It declined to alter the Board’s finding of dependency.

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