High Court Orders Employer to Pay Specific Loss Benefits to Worker's Estate

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court reversed an appellate court and ordered an employer to pay specific loss benefits to the estate of a worker who died before the final adjudication of her claim. The Supreme Court said in the matter of first impression that it overruled holdings in Estate of Harris and Burns International Security Services Inc. v. WCAB (Crist) to the extent those decisions found that Section 306(g) of the Workers’ Compensation Act is the exclusive means by which specific loss benefits survive the death of a worker. Kristina Steets was severely injured in an explosion ...