When an employee dies due to a workplace injury or accident, their surviving family members are entitled to compensation. The state’s workers’ compensation laws provide death benefit payments to surviving relatives. A practiced workers’ compensation attorney from Glauber Berenson Vego could help a family through the process during this difficult time.
In some instances involving negligence, the surviving family members may also be able to pursue a wrongful death claim to recoup damages. A Downey fatal workplace injury lawyer could advise you on your rights if you lost a family member in a workplace accident during a consultation meeting.
California has a workers’ compensation benefits system to reimburse employees for medical costs or other expenses due to workplace injuries or illnesses. All employers within the state must maintain a workers’ compensation insurance policy to cover their employees, according to Cal. Lab. Code § 3700.
In addition to medical care, disability benefits, and job displacement benefits, the workers’ compensation system also provides payments for death benefits to a person’s surviving dependents. Death benefits are paid to spouses and surviving dependents to cover expenses such as burial costs.
The number of the deceased’s surviving dependents determines the number of death benefits. For incidents after Jan. 1, 2013, surviving dependents are eligible to receive $10,000 to cover funeral costs. If the deceased had one dependent, the surviving family members are entitled to a $250,000 death benefit. The surviving family members are entitled to a $250,000 payment if the deceased had two total dependents. For three or more dependents, the surviving family is entitled to a $320,000 death benefit.
Surviving families must initiate a claim for death benefits within one year with the state’s division of worker’s compensation. A Downey lawyer could guide potential death benefit payments for fatal workplace injuries.
When an employee dies due to injuries or illnesses sustained from a work-related incident, they generally must pursue death benefits and cannot sue their employer. However, state law allows surviving family members to pursue a wrongful death claim under limited circumstances.
If a fatal work injury was caused by the employer’s intentionally wrongful actions or gross negligence, a Downey lawyer could help the surviving family members bring a wrongful death claim under Cal. Civ. Proc. Code § 377.60. Although it is difficult to bring a successful wrongful death claim against an employer, evidence of extreme negligence about safety protocols and workplace conditions could help bolster the lawsuit.
For example, employers are required to have a program to prevent injuries and illness under Cal. Lab. Code § 3203. The state’s labor code makes it illegal when a company has willfully violated applicable occupational health and safety standards, Cal. Lab. Code § 6425. The court can impose criminal penalties and fines. If a person or family can show that an employer received multiple warnings about a particular hazard that caused the death of an employee, this information can help prove intentional wrongful actions or gross negligence in the wrongful death claim.
Wrongful death claims allow surviving family members and dependents to recover damages for economic losses, such as lost wages or medical costs, and noneconomic losses, such as emotional distress or loss of consortium with a partner. Surviving family members are required to bring a wrongful death claim within two years of the deceased’s passing. Cal. Civ. Proc. Code § 335.1.
When your loved one died in an accident at work, it is prudent to contact a Downey fatal workplace injury lawyer as soon as possible. Although the state allows for death benefits under its workers’ compensation system, you could have a claim against their employer or a third party if the death resulted from intentional or gross negligence.
Our tenacious attorneys could help you initiate filing a claim and gather relevant evidence to show that an employer was negligent in maintaining safe workplace conditions. Contact our firm today to schedule a consultation appointment at your convenience.
