The Court of Appeals in Mississippi affirmed an award of death benefits to surviving dependents of a hospital material-management tech who was found dead in her office at work. There was no one who witnessed her death, and there is a presumption in Mississippi that her death arose in the course of her employment because it occurred in a place in which her duties required her to be during working hours. Her employer did not come forward with evidence to rebut this presumption and so her death was compensable.

She had worked at the hospital for ten years and her duties required her of filling requisitions and delivering supplies to different departments in the hospitals. In the afternoon she processed patient charges and did paper work. Her job was described as “medium or high energy level” and she was required to carry up to 50 pounds for 35 percent of the day, or push/pull 150-200 pounds between 67 and 100 percent of the day. Her husband said she had experienced stress while at work.

She was found in her office at 2:30 by co-workers. There was no autopsy performed but the death certificate listed the cause of death as acute myocardial infarction. An Administrative Judge found that the hospital failed to carry their burden of rebutting the “found-dead” presumption and awarded her family death benefits. The hospital appealed, saying that they did rebut this presumption, or in the alternative, the presumption should be abandoned.

The appellate court said in order to rebut the presumption they must explain the cause of death and show that the employee’s work activities did not cause or contribute to their death. They found that the presumption should be applied.

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