Morrison Mahoney Of Counsel Richard Neumeier and Partner Jack White prevailed in the Appeals Court which affirmed the dismissal of a workers’ compensation case.
The plaintiff appealed from the denial of her claim for survivor’s benefits pursuant to G.L.c. 152, § 31 and burial expenses arising out of the death of her husband in a 2014 automobile accident. Her husband was the principal of the family owned business, which was formed to operate an import and export business. The company served as the “manufacturer’s representative” that imported chemicals from China for sale to domestic companies that manufactured pharmaceuticals, food supplements, and animal feed.
No out of state travel was indicated on its 2005 workers’ compensation policy application and stated that the company was not “engaged in any other type of business.” The decedent did engage in other commercial businesses including a restaurant in Belmont, New Hampshire which opened in 2016 and closed later that year without ever making a profit. According to the plaintiff, her husband died in an accident while driving to New Hampshire to meet a real estate broker to sell the restaurant property. A Department of Industrial Accidents Administrative Judge denied the claim, concluding that the trip in which the decedent was killed was not undertaken in the course of business.
The case was briefed and argued by Richard. Richard’s first victory in the Appeals Court involving a workers’ compensation claim appears in Volume 3 of its Reports, Fogerty’s Case, 3 Mass. App. Ct. 737 (1975). Yang’s Case will be published in Volume 95. Richard is one of four Massachusetts members of the American Academy of Appellate lawyers and has been briefed and argued more than 150 appellate cases. Congratulations to Richard for his successful appeal and to Jack White for his win at the DIA.
