Ronald Lawrence, dec. v Treasurer of the State of MO
Release Date: July 7, 2020
Venue: WD 83123 (Div. 4)
Plot Summary The court of appeals affirms a denial of substitution of parties to allow ongoing PTD benefits to a surviving spouse and two daughters after claimant died.
https://www.courts.mo.gov/file.jsp?id=161495
Cast:
David Whipple
Kimberly Fournier
Comments. The proof of dependency requires evidence of the identify of the party who is dependent at the time of the accident. The 49 page award established that claimant had a wife and children at the time of the hearing but did not establish their dependency at the time of the accident or the identity of the dependents.
The right to Schoemehl benefits is preserved only when dependency at the time of injury has been established in the final award and cannot be added later.
Claimant was awarded about $11,000 in his claim against the employer for a 2005 accident (the nature of the injury is not identified). His claim for second injury fund life time benefits was denied for 10 years until the Court of Appeals found it compensable. Claimant died about 3 years later after the award from unrelated causes. The survivors sought to be substituted to continue to receive benefits under the former Schoemehl rule for life.
A dissent concluded the record contained sufficient evidence to establish dependency in the existing record applying liberal construction.
The original case proceeded without objection even though claimant had apparently met the ALJ before on a social occasion.
