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Pangerl v. Electric Repair & Construction6/13/2002
The Workers' Compensation Act provides that the death benefit for an employee's surviving spouse and dependent children is calculated as a percentage of the deceased employee's wage at the time of injury, subject to a maximum weekly compensation rate, adjusted annually. The Act further provides that when the last dependent child is no longer dependent, the surviving spouse is paid a weekly benefit for an additional ten years at a rate that is 25 percent less than the "last weekly workers' compensation benefit payment."
In this case, the weekly death benefit for the surviving spouse and dependent children was limited to the maximum weekly compensation rate, and now that the children are no longer dependent, we are asked to determine the proper method of calculating the ongoing death benefit for the surviving spouse alone. Specifically, we must decide whether the correct statutory calculation is to reduce by 25 percent the maximum weekly compensation benefit to which the surviving spouse and the children have been entitled or whether the correct statutory calculation is to reduce by 25 percent the surviving spouse and dependent children's benefit entitlement based upon the deceased employee's wage at the time of injury, and then subject that determination to the maximum compensation rate. We conclude that the correct statutory method of calculating the 25 percent reduction in benefits is the latter method, and we affirm.
The parties have stipulated to the material facts. Roland Pangerl, an employee of relator Electric Repair & Construction, died on August 12, 1987, as a result of a work-related injury that had occurred on July 23, 1987. He was survived by his spouse, respondent JoAnne Pangerl, and their two children, one born in 1971 and the other in 1978. The employer and its workers' compensation insurer, relator CNA Commercial Insurance, accepted liability for the injury and death and began paying dependents' death benefits under the Workers' Compensation Act, effective July 24, 1987.
Roland Pangerl's weekly wage on the date he was injured was $891.80. Under Minn. Stat. §á176.111, subd. 8 (2000), Roland Pangerl's surviving spouse and two dependent children were entitled to 66-2/3 percent of his wage at the time of injury, or $594.53 per week. However, the Act also provides a maximum compensation rate equal to the maximum weekly compensation for a temporary total disability. Minn. Stat. §á176.111, subd. 20 (2000). At the time of Roland Pangerl's injury, the maximum compensation rate for a temporary total disability was $360. The employer and its insurer therefore paid the maximum weekly benefit of $360, which was adjusted annually to match the percentage increase in the statewide average weekly wage, not to exceed six percent annually, in accordance with the provisions of Minn. Stat. §á176.645 (1986).
The employer and its insurer continued payment of benefits for more than 13 years, until January 22, 2001, at which point the employer and insurer filed a petition seeking to reduce payments because both children no longer qualified for presumptive dependent status under the Act. The employer and insurer's petition for a reduction of the amount of their payments to JoAnne Pangerl by 25 percent cited Minn. Stat. §á176.111, subd. 8, which provides that when the last child is no longer dependent, the surviving spouse shall be paid weekly benefits at a rate that is 25 percent less than the "last weekly workers' compensation benefit payment." The employer and its insurer argued that this statutory provision required that the weekly payment be reduced by 25 percent. JoAnne Pangerl argued that there should be no reduction in weekly payments. She argued that the amou
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