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Digital EditionNew Hampshire Supreme Court Reverses Compensation Appeals Board Decision on Death Benefits
The Supreme Court of New Hampshire recently reversed a decision made by the New Hampshire Compensation Appeals Board (CAB) in the case of the Estate of Gilbert Menke, ruling that adding a dependent to a workers’ compensation death benefits claim does not require a separate claim to be filed.
The CAB had denied the request of Maia Beh, the widow of Gilbert Menke, to be added to the list of dependents for the allocation of workers’ compensation death benefits. The CAB based its decision on the determination that Beh’s request constituted a separate and additional claim for death benefits, which was barred by the statute of limitations.
Gilbert Menke died following a work-related injury in 2016. His widow, Beh, and their daughter survived him. Beh was not married to Menke at the time of his death, but she became his common law spouse.
In 2017, less than a year after Menke’s injury, Beh sent the decedent’s death certificate and their daughter’s birth certificate to the insurer of Menke’s employer, New Hampshire Automobile Dealers Association, and requested that they pay the back benefits due to their daughter. The New Hampshire Department of Labor authorized the payment of dependent benefits.
In 2020, more than three years after Menke’s injury, Beh requested to be added to the list of Menke’s dependents and receive an appropriate allocation of death benefits. The insurer denied Beh’s request, stating that the status of the dependents is fixed by the statute at the date of injury.
Beh challenged the insurer’s denial and requested a hearing before the Department of Labor. The Department of Labor ruled in favor of Beh’s request for allocation of death benefits, finding it was not a new and separate death benefit claim and was not barred by the statute of limitations.
The insurer appealed the Department of Labor’s decision to the CAB. The CAB issued a written decision denying Beh’s request, concluding that Beh’s request to be added to the list of dependents was a separate and additional death benefits claim that was filed outside the time allowed by the statute of limitations.
The Supreme Court of New Hampshire reversed the CAB’s ruling, concluding that adding a dependent to an open death benefits claim does not constitute a separate claim, and that New Hampshire Workers’ Compensation Law sets no time limit for the dependent of a deceased employee to request allocation of benefits under an open death benefits claim.
This ruling underscores the importance of understanding the nuances of workers’ compensation laws and their interpretation. It highlights that the statute of limitations does not apply to the allocation of benefits under an open death benefits claim, which can impact how insurers manage such claims.
View the court’s decision here. &
