High court rejects family's bid for trooper's benefits
Posted: Saturday, February 03, 2007
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) -- The family of a state trooper who killed himself after the 2002 Norfolk bank slayings should not be entitled to workers' compensation benefits, the state Supreme Court ruled Friday.
About a week before the slayings, trooper Mark Zach ticketed one of the four men involved in the slayings -- Erick Vela -- for carrying a concealed weapon. But Zach accidentally transposed a serial number during a check of the gun, so it did not register as stolen.
Vela was arrested but soon released and allowed to keep the gun. Zach committed suicide the day after five people were shot to death inside a Norfolk bank in September 2002. Attorneys for the family argued workers' compensation benefits were owed because Zach's death stemmed from a job-related occupational disease caused by the stress of learning of the mistake.
Compensation was initially turned down by a state Workers' Compensation Court judge but granted on appeal. The Nebraska State Patrol appealed that decision.
The state high court ruled that the initial decision to deny benefits was the right one, because Zach's death was alleged to have been caused entirely by mental anguish.
"We conclude that under current Nebraska law, a compensable injury caused by an occupational disease must involve some physical stimulus constituting violence to the physical structure of the body," the court wrote in its opinion released Friday.
An attorney who argued the family should receive benefits, Jeffry Patterson, said in a brief that mental dysfunction is clear evidence of violence or harm to the body.
Attorneys for the family declined to comment Friday.
Several large businesses and insurance companies submitted briefs to the high court arguing that benefits shouldn't be paid, saying that what may have led to trooper Zach's suicide happens every day to countless employees: He made a mistake at work.
The businesses included trucking companies Crete Carrier and Werner Enterprises.
It is poor public policy to consider claims valid "by merely asserting (employees) suffer from a mental condition as a result of a job-related stimulus," Lincoln attorney Jenny Panko argued in a brief.
Nebraska is one of just five states where a worker must suffer an injury caused by violence to the physical body to receive workers compensation, the high court said in its opinion.
"A persuasive argument can be made that work-related injuries such as that alleged in this case should be compensable," the court wrote. "However, that decision is not ours to make."
On the Net:
Nebraska Supreme Court: http://www.court.state.ne.us/opinions/
About a week before the slayings, trooper Mark Zach ticketed one of the four men involved in the slayings -- Erick Vela -- for carrying a concealed weapon. But Zach accidentally transposed a serial number during a check of the gun, so it did not register as stolen.
Vela was arrested but soon released and allowed to keep the gun. Zach committed suicide the day after five people were shot to death inside a Norfolk bank in September 2002. Attorneys for the family argued workers' compensation benefits were owed because Zach's death stemmed from a job-related occupational disease caused by the stress of learning of the mistake.
Compensation was initially turned down by a state Workers' Compensation Court judge but granted on appeal. The Nebraska State Patrol appealed that decision.
The state high court ruled that the initial decision to deny benefits was the right one, because Zach's death was alleged to have been caused entirely by mental anguish.
"We conclude that under current Nebraska law, a compensable injury caused by an occupational disease must involve some physical stimulus constituting violence to the physical structure of the body," the court wrote in its opinion released Friday.
An attorney who argued the family should receive benefits, Jeffry Patterson, said in a brief that mental dysfunction is clear evidence of violence or harm to the body.
Attorneys for the family declined to comment Friday.
Several large businesses and insurance companies submitted briefs to the high court arguing that benefits shouldn't be paid, saying that what may have led to trooper Zach's suicide happens every day to countless employees: He made a mistake at work.
The businesses included trucking companies Crete Carrier and Werner Enterprises.
It is poor public policy to consider claims valid "by merely asserting (employees) suffer from a mental condition as a result of a job-related stimulus," Lincoln attorney Jenny Panko argued in a brief.
Nebraska is one of just five states where a worker must suffer an injury caused by violence to the physical body to receive workers compensation, the high court said in its opinion.
"A persuasive argument can be made that work-related injuries such as that alleged in this case should be compensable," the court wrote. "However, that decision is not ours to make."
On the Net:
Nebraska Supreme Court: http://www.court.state.ne.us/opinions/
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