Extra Benefits Denied Over Alleged Safety Lapse That Caused Arborist's Death

The Ohio Court of Appeals ruled there is “insufficient evidence” to prove that an applicable safety lapse led to the death of an arborist whose spouse applied for extra workers' compensation death benefits, allowable in Ohio if a death results from a documented safety issue. Sean Hudson was working for the City of Cleveland when a 6-foot-tall tree stump fell and pinned him to the ground, killing him. After the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation investigated the accident and cited the city with five workplace safety violations, a workers' compensation death claim wa...