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Martin v. Beverage Capital Corporation3/25/1999
nt contractor, brokering products for Canada Dry Corporation to Giant Food. Her job is low paying with sporadic, non-established hours. Mrs. Martin has earned the following since Mr. Martin's death in January 1992: 1993 -- $11,249.50; 1994 -- 9,651.00; and 1995 -- $15,879.00. Mrs. Martin filed issues with the Commission, claiming that she continued to be "wholly dependent" and seeking resumption of the weekly death benefit payments. On March 7, 1995, there was a hearing before the Commission and on August 22, 1995, it ruled that Mrs. Martin continued "to be wholly dependent on her deceased husband," and Respondents were ordered to continue paying the weekly benefits. On the same day as the ruling, the Respondents filed another appeal to the Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County, which was also decided through cross motions for summary judgment.
On November 26, 1996, the circuit court granted Mrs. Martin's motion for summary judgment, affirming the Commission's order and mandating the continuation of benefits. Respondents appealed to the Court of Special Appeals, and on February 25, 1998, the court reversed the Commission's order. The Court of Special Appeals held that Mrs. Martin was "partially self-supporting and not `wholly dependent' upon Workers' Compensation benefits within the meaning of LE 9-681(d)." Beverage Capital v. Martin, 119 Md. App. 662, 683, 705 A.2d 1175, 1186 (1998)(emphasis added). The court stated that when analyzing whether a dependent is entitled to continue to receive workers' compensation death benefits following the initial award of $45,000, a determination must be made as to whether there is an ongoing dependency on the benefits, as opposed to an ongoing dependency on the deceased worker's salary at the time of his or her death. Martin, 119 Md. App. at 672-75, 705 A.2d at 1181-82. The court went on to hold that because Mrs. Martin's employment was not temporary, occasional, or minor, and that her salary constituted approximately fifty percent of the workers' compensation death benefits, she was no longer "wholly dependent." Martin, 119 Md. App. at 682-83, 705 A.2d at 1185-86.
Mrs. Martin filed a petition for certiorari in April, 1998, appealing the Court of Special Appeals' ruling on the issue of whether she remains wholly dependent. We granted certiorari. Specifically, we are asked to determine whether "continues to be wholly dependent" in 9-681(d), as it pertains to a surviving spouse who has already received the maximum initial workers' compensation death benefits of $45,000, refers to a continued dependency on the standard of living, in the form of the deceased worker's salary, at the time of the fatal injury or on the generally lesser workers' compensation death benefits. As the Court of Special Appeals acknowledged, " he statute does not explicitly say upon what the surviving spouse must continue to be dependent." Martin, 119 Md. App. at 671, 705 A.2d at 1180.
We reverse the Court of Special Appeals and hold that a spouse "continues to be wholly dependent," and therefore eligible for continuing workers' compensation death benefits, when he or she has an ongoing dependency on the deceased worker's salary at the time of death.
II. DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS
A. Statutory Interpretation
Maryland's Workers' Compensation Act (the Act), which has been in existence for over eighty years, is intended to protect workers and their families from the various hardships that result from employment-related injuries. Queen v. Agger, 287 Md. 342, 343, 412 A.2d 733, 734 (1980). Specifically, "it is designed to provide workers with compensation for loss of earning capacity resulting from accidental injury, disease or death arising o
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