High Court Says Special Fund Not Liable for Death Benefit Claims

New York’s highest court ruled that liability for a death benefits claim could not be transferred to the Special Fund for Reopened Cases after the statutorily established cut-off, regardless of the prior transfer of liability for the worker's disability claim arising out of the same injury. “Based on the plain statutory language, which broadly applies to all claims submitted after the deadline, and our established precedent that a death benefits claim accrues at the time of death and ‘is a separate and distinct legal proceeding’ from the worker’s original dis...