Arthur Pierce worked for a trucking company in Virginia. In September 2006 he was found lying beside his dump truck. He had suffered a severe brain injury and was unable to communicate any details about what had happened. Physicians speculated that he had fallen from the truck (falls are the number one cause of injuries to drivers), but there was no proof and no witnesses. The unfortunate driver required constant care until his death in January 2008.
Due to the uncertainty of the circumstances surrounding the injury, Pierce was denied workers comp benefits. (This would have been a very large claim.) Ironically, if he had been found dead, the death would have been deemed compensable: when an employee is found dead at work, the fatal injuries are presumed to arise out of employment, unless there is a “preponderance of evidence” to the contrary.
Legal Remedy Fails
Lawmakers in Virginia, sympathizing with the plight of Pierce and his widow, proposed changes to the state’s comp statute. Senate Bill 821 was aimed specifically at employees who suffer severe brain injuries and are unable to recall the relevant circumstances of the accident. (How many of these cases would there be in a year – or even a decade?)
Alas, SB 821 died in committee. Opponents feared that the bill would increase the likelihood of workers’ comp fraud. They were actually concerned that employees would fake severe brain injuries to secure benefits. To be sure, fraud can be a real problem, but how can you possibly fake a brain injury?
SB 821 would have come too late to help Pierce, and was so specific in nature, it would probably never have been helpful to severely injured workers. It was a mostly a symbolic gesture toward a family that was not served well by the Virginia comp system. Arthur Pierce’s work-related fall simply fell through the cracks.
