Goldmann v. Johanna Farms, Inc.
| Decision Date | 06 April 1960 |
| Docket Number | No. 3678,3678 |
| Citation | 61 N.J.Super. 138,160 A.2d 197 |
| Parties | Marie GOLDMANN, Petitioner-Respondent, v. JOHANNA FARMS, INC., Respondent-Appellant. |
| Court | New Jersey County Court |
Isidor Kalisch, Newark, for respondent-appellant.
Herman M. Wilson, Newark, for petitioner-respondent.
BENNETT, J.C.C.
Eugene Goldmann was employed by Johanna Farms, Inc., as a farm manager at an agreed salary of $500 per month. On November 25, 1950 he suffered injuries by accident arising out of and in the course of his employment for which he was awarded compensation for 100% Of permanent total disability (450 weeks at $25 per week, or $11,250). Included among the injuries sustained was a heart disability. Goldmann died from the residuals of this condition, August 17, 1958.
Following his death Marie Goldmann, his widow, filed a petition for dependency benefits. The Workmen's Compensation Division ruled she was entitled to such benefits and ordered payment therefor for a period of 350 weeks at $40 per week, $14,000 and allowance for burial expense of $400, pursuant to the statute in effect when she became his widow and her right to such dependency benefits came into being; R.S. 34:15--13, as amended by L.1956, c. 141, N.J.S.A.
The appellant concedes the decedent's death is causally related to the injuries for which he was awarded compensation and that Marie Goldmann is his lawful widow and dependent as defined by R.S. 34:15--13, N.J.S.A., as amended.
The sole issue is whether such dependency benefits must be paid pursuant to the statute in effect when she became his widow, August 17, 1958, or by the statute existing on the date of Goldmann's accident, November 25, 1950.
Appellee Marie Goldmann contends: (a) her cause of action is separate and distinct from any her husband had; (b) it was not derived from any rights which he had but was a creature of the statute, Eckert v. New Jersey State Highway Department, 1 N.J. 474, 64 A.2d 221 (1949); (c) she had no right to dependency benefits until she became his widow, which did not occur until August 1958; her rights to such dependency benefits came into existence at that time and not before, and are therefore governed by the law in effect at that time and no other; (d) the omission of any limitation of application of the 1956 amendment to R.S. 34:15--13, N.J.S.A., that is, 'This act shall take effect Jan. 1, 1957,' similar to that provided in the 1945 amendment, L.1945, c. 74, that is, 'shall apply to accidents on and after Jan. 1, 1946,' clearly indicates no such limitation was intended; (e) rules of statutory...
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McAllister v. Board of Ed., Town of Kearny
...174 A.2d 759 (Essex Cty.Ct.1961), which held that the statute in force on the date of the injury governs, and Goldmann v. Johanna Farms, Inc., 61 N.J.Super. 138, 160 A.2d 197 (Mercer Cty.Ct.1960), which concluded that it is the statute in force at the date of death which governs. We shall o......
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Ermola v. Hudson Paint & Varnish Co.
...in fact the contract between the parties has terminated. One of the cases which petitioner relies upon is Goldman v. Johanna Farms, Inc., 61 N.J.Super. 138, 160 A.2d 197 (Cty.Ct.1960). The facts and question of law in that case are the same as in the case at bar. The court held that where a......
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