Orzech v. Giacco Oil Co.

Citations

• 208 Conn. App. 275

Syllabus

The defendant employer, G Co., and its insurer appealed to this court from the decision of the Compensation Review Board affirming the Workers' Compensation Commissioner's award of survivorship benefits to the plaintiff. The plaintiff's deceased spouse, S, who had been an employee of G Co., slipped and fell while delivering oil to one of its customers. The fall aggravated S's existing knee injury to such an extent that he could no longer work or carry out his daily activities. S's physician recommended knee replacement surgery, however, S's health insurance had been canceled thirty days after the incident and he could not afford the procedure. S filed a workers' compensation claim relating to the compensability of the knee replacement surgery. Prior to the conclusion of the formal hearings before the commissioner, S died. Thereafter, the plaintiff filed a claim for survivorship benefits. Following the testimony of both expert and lay witnesses, the commissioner determined that S had died by suicide as a result of depression that stemmed from compensable work injuries and that the plaintiff was entitled to survivor- ship benefits. The defendants filed a petition for review of the commis- sioner's finding and award with the board, claiming that, inter alia, in accordance with Sapko v. State (305 Conn. 360), S's consumption of an excessive amount of alcohol and medication prior to his death consti- tuted a superseding cause that broke the chain of causation between the work incident and S's death. The board disagreed and affirmed the commissioner's finding and award, and the defendants appealed to this court. Held that the board properly affirmed the commissioner's award of survivorship benefits to the plaintiff: the commissioner's subordinate findings that the decedent developed depression following the work incident, that his compensable injuries were a substantial contributing factor to his development of depression, that the manner of his death was a suicide, and t