Decision  Joseph Freedman v. Suffolk County Sheriff's Office

Date:	07/28/2016
Organization:	Department of Industrial Accidents
Docket Number:	DIA Board No. 012354-97
Location:	Boston

• Employee: Joseph Freedman
• Employer: Suffolk County Sheriff's Department
• Self Insurer: Commonwealth of Massachusetts

HARPIN, J. The claimant appeals from a decision finding her fully self-supporting pursuant to G. L. c. 152, § 31,¹ thereby terminating her spousal benefits under that section. We recommit the case for further findings for reasons stated below.

¹ General Laws, c. 152, § 31, states, in relevant part:

If death results from the injury, the insurer shall pay the following dependents of the employee, including his or her children by a former spouse, wholly dependent upon his or her earnings for support at the time of his or her injury, or at the time of his or her death, compensation as follows, payable . . . To the widow or widower, so long as he or she remains unmarried, a weekly compensation equal to two-thirds of the average weekly wages of the deceased employee, but not more than the average weekly wage in the commonwealth, . . . provided, however, that in no instance shall said widow or widower, receive less than one hundred and ten dollars per week, to the widow or widower six dollars more a week for each child of the deceased employee under the age of eighteen or over said age and physically or mentally incapacitated from earning, or over said age and a full time student qualified for exemption as a dependent under section one hundred and fifty-one (e) of the Internal Revenue Code,

The total payments due under this section shall not be more than the average weekly wage in effect in the commonwealth at the time of the injury as determined according to the provisions of subsection (a) of section twenty-nine of chapter one hundred and fifty-one A, and promulgated by the deputy director of unemployment assistance on or before the October first prior to the date of the injury multiplied by two hundred and fifty plus any costs of living increases provided by this section except that payment to or for the benefit of children of the deceased employee under the age of eighteen shall not be discontinued prior to the age of eighteen, and except that after a dependent unremarried widow or widower or physically or mentally incapacitated child over the age of eighteen has received the maximum payments, he or she shall continue to receive further payments but only during such periods as he or she is in fact not fully self-supporting. Either party may request hearings at reasonable intervals before a board member on the question of granting such payments, or on the question of restoration of such payments or on the question of discontinuance of such payments. A member of the board may set a case for hearing on his or her initiative, after due notice to both parties.