A man was stabbed to death at work by a coworker and his family sought workers’ comp death benefits. A Pennsylvania court determined they could receive those benefits because his employer had failed to prove the incident was not work-related.

Danny Vasquez was stabbed by Peter Atem in February 2015. Their employer, JBS USA Holdings Inc. said the incident was related to a “personal animus” and was not work-related, so they denied benefits.

A workers’ compensation judge said that Atem had exhibited signs of being “emotionally unstable” and ruled there was no evidence of personal animosity between the two. At times it appeared that the two seemed to work well together according to testimony. The judge ruled in favor of his widow and their children.

An appeal board affirmed this ruling, granting death benefits to the family but reprieving the employer from providing benefits to one of the children, as Mr. Vasquez was not the biological father of that child. The board said there was not enough proof to show that he “intended to function” as the child’s father.

The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania affirmed this ruling, saying the employer had failed to prove the incident was not work-related.

Read more here.