Opinion
Argued April 9, 1976
May 28, 1976.
Workmen's compensation — Heart attack — Performance of usual duties — Work connection — Medical testimony — The Pennsylvania Workmen's Compensation Act, Act 1915, June 2, P.L. 736.
1. When an employe while performing his usual job assignment suffers a fatal heart attack shown to be connected to his work by testimony of a physician that death was directly related to the work, benefits are payable under The Pennsylvania Workmen's Compensation Act, Act 1915, June 2, P.L. 736. [656]
Judge KRAMER did not participate in this decision.
Argued April 9, 1976, before Judges CRUMLISH, JR., MENCER and ROGERS, sitting as a panel of three.
Appeal, No. 699 C.D. 1975, from the Order of the Workmen's Compensation Appeal Board in case of Josephine Squillacioti, widow of Vincent P. Squillacioti, deceased v. Bernard S. Pincus Company.
Petition with Department of Labor and Industry for death benefits. Benefits awarded. Employer appealed to the Workmen's Compensation Appeal Board. Award affirmed. Employer appealed to the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania. Held: Affirmed.
David F. Kaliner, for appellant.
Jerry Zaslow, with him Modell, Pincus, Hahn Reich, and James N. Diefenderfer, for appellees.
In this workmen's compensation appeal the facts are not in dispute. Vincent P. Squillacioti (Decedent) had been employed by Bernard S. Pincus Company (Appellant) as a truck driver. His regular and usual duties involved driving a pre-loaded truck to Appellant's consignees, where he carried the packaged meat products to the tailgate of his truck in order for the consignees' employes to unload the shipment.
On July 28, 1972, Decedent had unloaded about onehalf of the cargo on his truck to the tailgate when he went to lunch for one-half hour. Upon his return, while walking along the loading dock toward his truck, he died. The undisputed cause of death as adduced at the hearing was acute left anterolateral myocardial infarction, coronary occlusion and atherosclerosis, simply, "heart attack."
Appellant, both in brief and at oral argument, requested this Court to delineate an ecumenical definition of "injury." However, in resolving the issue before us, whether the "heart attack" was compensable "injury" related to his employment, under Section 301(c) of The Pennsylvania Workmen's Compensation Act, we need not address Appellant's request. This Court has repeatedly held that where a decedent, as here, was performing his usual job assignment at the time of his fatal heart attack, and the connection between his work and the heart attack was supported by testimony of a physician, that the death was directly related to his work, decedent's claimant was entitled to benefits. Workmen's Compensation Appeal Board v. Ayers Philadelphia, Inc., 23 Pa. Commw. 249, 351 A.2d 306 (1976); Workmen's Compensation Appeal Board v. Kanell Jewelers, Inc., 22 Pa. Commw. 1, 347 A.2d 500 (1975); Workmen's Compensation Appeal Board v. Auto Express, Inc., 21 Pa. Commw. 559, 346 A.2d 829 (1975); Workmen's Compensation Appeal Board v. Jeddo Highland Coal Company, 19 Pa. Commw. 90, 338 A.2d 744 (1975).
Act of June 2, 1915, P.L. 736, as amended, 77 P. S. § 411(1).
Accordingly, we
ORDER
AND NOW, this 28th day of May, 1976, the decision and order of the Workmen's Compensation Appeal Board is affirmed and the appeal dismissed. It is further ordered that judgment be entered in favor of Josephine Squillacioti, widow of Vincent P. Squillacioti, and against Bernard S. Pincus Company, in the amount of $71.91 per week beginning July 28, 1972, and continuing for the duration of her widowhood, and the sum of $750.00 on account of Decedent's burial expenses, together with interest at the rate of 10 percent per annum on deferred payments of compensation from the date due to the date paid, all within the terms and limits of The Pennsylvania Workmen's Compensation Act.
Judge KRAMER did not participate in the decision in this case.