Secured Benefits for Widow and Child of a Worker Who Died of a Heart Attack on the Job

Although the circumstances suggested that the worker’s fatal myocardial infarction was related to his employment, his Indiana County employer and its Workers’ Compensation insurance carrier denied the claim and refused to provide benefits to his widow and adult disabled daughter.
Vince Quatrini, principal attorney on the case, led a two-year effort to secure the benefits the family deserved through the Indiana County Workers’ Compensation hearing office. The case required extensive investigation and documentation, including the collection of five years of medical records, records from the day of the worker’s death, photographs of the work site, verification of the extreme cold temperatures, and the autopsy report. This evidence was then submitted to a highly qualified forensic pathologist to evaluate the relationship between the worker’s job duties and his fatal heart attack.

Vince Quatrini used his many years of experience to identify the right expert. He subpoenaed the job description to show the weights of the hoses, the weather report to substantiate the freezing temperature (cold weather causes the arteries to contract), and the worker’s old PCP records to show he was not treating for heart problems. With this thorough homework, and Vince’s extensive knowledge of Pennsylvania’s law of death cases, Vince put together a very persuasive case which the insurance company conceded and settled the claim.