| Date: | 09/07/2004 |
|---|---|
| Organization: | Department of Industrial Accidents |
| Docket Number: | DIA Board No. 805631-85 |
| Location: | Boston |
- Employee: James Wilson (deceased)
- Claimant: Judith Wilson
- Self Insurer: Western Massachusetts Electric Co.
COSTIGAN, J. The self-insurer appeals from an administrative judge’s decision finding that the claimant widow is entitled to death benefits beyond the 250-week period of conclusively presumed dependency because she is "in fact not fully self-supporting." G. L. c. 152, § 31. The self-insurer maintains that the claimant is fully self-supporting by virtue of her receipt of monies from a structured settlement which resolved a loss of consortium lawsuit against her husband’s employer. The self-insurer argues that excluding the claimant’s loss of consortium damages from the determination of whether she is fully self-supporting grants her a double recovery in contravention of § 38 of the act. We disagree, and affirm the decision.