Opinion ID: 1097522
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Did the Circuit Court and the Worker's Compensation commission err in requiring appellants to prove dependency?

Text: Prior to 1984 [1] , Miss. Code Ann. § 71-3-25, describing death benefits, differentiated in several respects between a widow and a widower. For example, a widow received an immediate lump sum payment of $250, whereas a widower did not. Also, a widow was statutorily presumed to be wholly dependent on her deceased husband, whereas a widower was required to prove his dependency. The United States Supreme Court held a similar Missouri statute unconstitutional in Wengler v. Druggist Mutual Ins. Co., 446 U.S. 142, 100 S.Ct. 1540, 64 L.Ed.2d 107 (1980). In Wengler the Court found that the Missouri Workmen's Compensation laws which denied a widower benefits on his wife's work-related death unless he either was mentally or physically incapacitated or proved dependence on his wife's earnings, while granting widows death benefits without their having to prove dependence, violated the Fourteenth Amendment's equal protection clause. In the present case the administrative judge, relying on Wengler, found that since § 73-3-25 presumed a widow to be wholly dependent then a widower should likewise be presumed wholly dependent. He then awarded the spouse of the decedent a lump sum death benefit payment of $250. The full Commission, by a divided vote, reversed that holding and held that the clear wording of the statute should be followed pending contrary direction by the Mississippi Supreme Court. The Court today follows Wengler v. Druggist Mutual Ins. Co., 446 U.S. 142, 100 S.Ct. 1540, 64 L.Ed.2d 107 (1980) and declares those portions of § 71-3-25 which differentiated between widows and widowers unconstitutional. Having done so, the Court holds that the spouse of the decedent be allowed to collect a lump sum death benefit of $250. The appellants also assign as error and argue that the circuit court erred in failing to award them reasonable funeral expenses, not to exceed $1,000, as provided by Miss. Code Ann. § 71-3-25. This Court notes that the order of the full Commission did award reasonable funeral expenses not to exceed $1,000 exclusive of other burial insurance or benefits. The circuit court did not disturb that portion of the award in its February 16, 1983 judgment.