Evidence Supported Necessary Nexus Between Murdered Hotel Worker's Employment And Her Death
In this workers’ compensation case, the claimant's daughter was found murdered in the lower level of the Courtyard by Marriott hotel located at John F. Kennedy International Airport. At the time, claimant's daughter was employed as a guest services agent working at the front desk of the hotel and had left that location to go to the employees' restroom located in the lower level.
Claimant's application for death benefits was granted by the Workers' Compensation Law Judge. On appeal, the Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the worker's death occurred during the course of her employment, and that substantial evidence supported the necessary nexus between the worker's employment and her death:
A claimant seeking workers' compensation death benefits must establish that the death occurred during the course of employment and arose out of the employment. First, there can be no serious dispute that the death occurred during the course of employment. Decedent was on duty at the hotel's front desk and the fact that she left to go to the restroom does not constitute such an interruption of employment as to compel a determination that the death did not occur during employment. Second, whether the fatal attack arose out of employment is dependent upon whether the attack flows from work-related differences or purely personal animosity. If there is any demonstrated nexus, however slender, between the motivation for the assault and employment, an award of workers' compensation death benefits is appropriate. Here, the record evidence points to decedent's boyfriend, also an employee of the hotel, as the perpetrator of the murder. A number of witnesses testified on behalf of claimant that decedent's boyfriend was overly jealous as a result of the manner in which decedent dealt with customers of the hotel. This evidence provides the necessary nexus between decedent's employment and her death and constitutes substantial evidence establishing that the death arose out of employment.
Gutierrez v. Courtyard by Marriott Workers' Compensation Bd.