November 2006 SBH Quarterly Newsletter
PDF FormatWashington BIIA WC Case Law Update
The Board recently designated a case as a Tentative Significant Decision.
Spouse can prove entitlement to survivor benefits even though worker was
not fixed and stable at time of death unrelated to claim. The Board
found a spouse can prove entitlement to survivor benefits by establishing
the worker would not have returned to gainful employment once the
compensable condition reached maximum medical improvement. In this case, the
worker died from cancer before his industrially related conditions were
fixed and stable. The Board now requires the survivor prove that, at the
time of death, disability caused by the industrial injury resulted in
worker’s unemployment and, although further proper and necessary treatment
was contemplated, that treatment would not be expected to return the worker,
had he survived, to reasonably continuous gainful employment. In re
Russell C. Fredericks, Dec’d., BIIA Dec., 05 18867 (June 30, 2006).
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