Widow waited too long to assert claim for death benefits

The North Carolina Court of Appeals ruled that a worker’s filing of a claim for benefits for an injury shortly before his death did not satisfy the statutory deadline for his widow to file a claim for death benefits.

Steven McAuley was working for North Carolina A&T State University when he suffered an injury to his back at work in 2015. He filed a workers compensation claim within a month and died 10 days later, according to documents in McAuley v. North Carolina A&T State University, filed Dec. 7 in Raleigh, North Carolina.

The university paid temporary total disability compensation and medical compensation to Mr. McAuley after his injury. Within a few weeks of his death, his widow attended a meeting with representatives from the university’s human resources department to sign papers related to insurance policies and an accidental death insurance policy. The widow later testified that she believed she was signing all the paperwork related to her husband’s death and the benefits to which she was entitled.

Three years later, in January 2018, the widow filed a request for a hearing with the Industrial Commission seeking death benefits. The university responded that the commission lacked jurisdiction over the claim because it had not been timely filed, within two years as required by law. A deputy commissioner agreed that the widow’s claim was time-barred, as did the commission.

The appeals court in the recent ruling explained that the timely filing of a claim for compensation is a condition precedent to the right to receive compensation, and failure to file timely is a jurisdictional bar for the Industrial Commission. The court also said the widow’s claim was separate from that of her late husband’s.

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