Court says worker comp OK in suicide cases

CARSON CITY, Nev. — In a precedent-setting case, the Nevada Supreme Court held Thursday that worker comp benefits can go to families of people who kill themselves if an industrial accident broke down their "rational mental process" and left them suicidal. The high court ruling revives a case brought by Sharon Vredenburg, whose husband Danny shot himself in the head because he couldn't stop the pain of a severe back injury suffered when he slipped on stairs while working as a bartender at a hotel-casino in Laughlin. The ruling directs a Clark County district judge to remand the case to an appeals officer who previously had rejected the widow's bid for worker compensation death benefits. Nevada law prevents surviving family members from recovering benefits if an employee's death results from "a willful intention to injure... [read full story]