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Widow seeking changes to worker’s comp payments
Asking to end differences in payment amounts for certain widow classifications
CUMBERLAND — A widow of a man who was killed in the 2007 Barton mine collapse continues to seek changes to the manner in which workers’ compensation payouts are determined.
Linda Jones, of the Lonaconing area of Garrett County, said she’s counting on Sen. George Edwards and Delegates Kevin Kelly, LeRoy Myers and Wendell Beitzel to keep pushing for equal payments for widows deemed “wholly dependent” and “partially self-supporting” after a death in the workplace. Her husband, Dale Jones, was killed in April two years ago when a high wall fell on him while working. Michael Wilt of Frostburg also was killed in the incident at a mining site operated by Tri-Star Mining Inc.
Legislation introduced by the District 1 delegation to Annapolis during the 2009 legislative session passed. The changes included a payout increase of $15,000 to widows deemed “partially dependent” by the Maryland Workers’ Compensation Commission. Jones herself benefited from the new law.
Any future changes, she said, won’t impact her budget. But that doesn’t matter.
“I don’t care if I never get another penny,” Jones said after her letter to the editor appeared in the Cumberland Times-News on Nov. 10.
Jones said both her husband and Wilt died in the exact same circumstances. Jones continues to advocate for change in the state’s workers’ compensation limits so her husband’s death will not have been in vain.
Edwards said he can sympathize with Jones’ plight. He said some changes were rejected during the 2009 session because certain lawmakers were concerned it could open up the process and result in an “unknown payment amount” — a touchy concept for legislators to swallow in difficult economic times.
Edwards said he assured his colleagues in the Senate that this type of situation “doesn’t occur every day.” The compromise reached before the Maryland General Assembly that adjourned in April increased the one-time payment to $75,000 from $60,000 — still far less than what widow Tonya Wilt will receive through checks in the mail for the rest of her life.
Jones was employed at the time of her husband’s death and received $26,000 in annual salary. Wilt was employed part time at a local restaurant but the state commission deemed her “fully dependent.”
Edwards said that he would review during the 2010 session what, if any, changes to the death benefits process are recommended by the state Workers' Compensation Committee. The legislation sponsored by the District 1 lawmakers required the commission to establish a work group of stakeholders, including labor, employers, local governments and workers’ compensation insurance companies.
The report was to be completed by Dec. 1. Attempts by the Times-News to contact Mary Ahearn, executive director of the commission, were not successful.
Contact Kevin Spradlin at kspradlin@times-news.com.
