Family blames Massachusetts officer’s death on workplace injury

The human body is complex. As a result, it is difficult to determine exactly how an injury or illness may impact the body in the future. For example, a person can suffer unexpectedly from an injury suffered in the past, especially when the injury involved head trauma. The parents of a Massachusetts police officer are claiming that their son’s death was caused by a workplace injury that occurred in the line of duty a year prior to his death. They are now seeking workers’ compensation benefits.

The police officer died in 2014. He was reportedly injured in April 2013 when an explosive device was thrown in his direction. The explosion is said to have knocked him off his feet, causing a head injury. Reports indicate that the man collapsed a year later, at the age of 28, while exercising at the Boston Police Academy.

His official cause of death is listed as a brain aneurysm; however, no autopsy was conducted because his parents say they were questioned about one just minutes after their son’s death while they were still in shock. Recently, a physician panel agreed with the parents’ argument that the man’s death was caused by a workplace injury and included multiple other injuries the young man received in the line of duty as possible contributions to his death. As a result of the panel’s opinion, the man’s parents are now requesting death benefits in the amount of $150,000.

All states, including Massachusetts, require employers to provide workers’ compensation benefits to employees in the event of a workplace injury. These benefits typically extend to family members in the event of a fatality. Unfortunately, the nature of certain injuries or incidents may make it difficult to prove that workers’ compensation is warranted, causing some to seek the guidance of a professional with experience with such claims.

Source: watertown.wickedlocal.com, “Officer’s family files for death benefit“, Adam Sennott, May 14, 2015