Opinion
Record No. 951573
June 7, 1996
Present: All the Justices
The Court of Appeals of Virginia correctly held that a workers' compensation claim of an employee's estate is barred by the two-year stature of limitations contained in Code § 65.2-406 (A)(5) because the employee was medically informed that his heart condition was an occupational disease for which he could receive workers' compensation more than two years before the claim for death benefits was made by his estate.
Workers' Compensation — Occupational Diseases — Diagnosis — Statutes of Limitation — Code § 65.2-406(A)(5)
A firefighter applied for and received service-connected retirement benefits based upon a physician's diagnosis of heart disease. Over two years later he suffered a massive heart attack and died. A claim for benefits was made by the employee's estate. The Commission ruled that the estate's claim was not barred by the limitations period. The city appealed to the Court of Appeals, which reversed the award and dismissed the case. The employee's estate appeals.
1. The employee was medically informed that his heart condition was an occupational disease for which he could receive workers' compensation and, thus, he was informed for purposes of the statute providing that the right to workers' compensation shall be forever barred unless the claim is filed within two years after the diagnosis of an occupational disease is first communicated.
2. A death benefits claim filed by the firefighter's estate over two years after he was medically retired was time-barred.
Appeal from a judgment of the Court of Appeals of Virginia.
Affirmed.
Michael A. Kernbach (Jack T. Burgess Associates, on brief), for appellant.
Philip G. Sunderland, City Attorney (Amy Marschean, on brief), for appellee.
[1-2] We awarded an appeal in this case to review a judgment of the Court of Appeals of Virginia which held that an employee's workers' compensation claim is barred by the two-year statute of limitations contained in Code § 65.2-406 (A)(5) because the employee became aware more than two years before his death and before his estate filed a claim with the Workers' Compensation Commission for death benefits that he suffered from an occupational disease. City of Alexandria v. Cronin, 20 Va. App. 503, 458 S.E.2d 314 (1995).
For the reasons stated in the opinion of the Court of Appeals, we will affirm the judgment entered below.
Affirmed.