Court Says Widow of Retired Worker Not Entitled to Benefits for Husband's Asbestos-Related Adenocarcinoma

BOSTON - The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has determined that the wife of a man who died from an asbestos-related illness four years after retiring is not entitled to worker's compensation under state law because her husband was not making any wages at the time of his death. In re McDonough's Case, No. SJC-09009 (Mass. Sup. Ct.).

The high court's Dec. 22 opinion vacates a prior decision of the Industrial Accident Reviewing Board, which reversed a ruling denying benefits to the widow of Joseph V. McDonough, who was diagnosed with a metastatic adenocarcinoma four and a half years after retiring …