Courts Intervene After Man ‘Worked To Death' By Water Department

After a protracted legal battle over death benefits, courts have sided with the widow of a man who was “worked to death” at a Pennsylvania water department, Reuters reported this week.

Robert Dietz, 48, died eight years ago of a heart attack while doing hard physical labor for a water department in Bucks County, PA. His employer was the Lower Bucks County Joint Municipal Authority (LBCJMA).

His widow, Judith Dietz, had requested a standard death benefit, equaling about $3,000 for the burial and 60 percent of his wages. Larry Wolk, a doctor and cardiac specialist, weighed in during the proceeding to say that what killed Dietz was “his long work day performing strenuous physical labor,” Reuters reported.

But the municipal authority had argued that Dietz could have died at any time, and that “pre-existing health issues and a history of smoking, not Dietz's physically demanding job as a field maintenance worker, prompted the heart attack. Dietz did that job, which involved running a jackhammer and other strenuous labor, for 20 years,” PennLive reported. He also repaired water mains.

A Workers' Compensation Appeal Board opinion previously denied the benefit. But now that decision is reversed. “A panel of Commonwealth Court judges sided with the widow after taking the unusual step of reversing a prior [opinion],” Reuters reported, citing a board spokesman.

Judge Mary Hannah Leavitt explained the opinion. "The overwhelming circumstantial evidence in this case shows that exertion from Decedent’s regular work activities over the course of a 14-hour workday caused his heart attack," she wrote.

For similar stories, visit Water Online’s Labor Solutions Center.