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Martin v. Beverage Capital Corporation3/25/1999
Md. 655, 399 A.2d 250 (1979), in which we stated:
"In reviewing this ruling we, as was the circuit court, are to be guided by the general statutory command that `the decision of the Commission entitled to prima facie correctness.' A court, therefore, may reverse a commission ruling only upon a finding that its action was based upon an erroneous construction of the law or facts...." (Citations omitted).
284 Md. at 658, 399 A.2d at 252 (quoting in part Md. Bureau of Mines v. Powers, 258 Md. 379, 382, 265 A.2d 860, 862 (1970)).
2. "Step One" Cases
Unfortunately, the Act does not define "total dependency" or "wholly dependent." Until June 1, 1947, when Chapter 895 of the Acts of 1947 took effect, the law presumed that a wife was wholly dependent on her husband. Meyler v. Mayor and City Council, 179 Md. 211, 215, 17 A.2d 762, 764 (1941). The 1947 amendments removed the presumptions of dependency and placed all matters of dependency within the discretion of the Commission. 9-679. We have often stated, in accordance with 9-679, that "the question of dependency is one primarily of fact to be decided in every case upon the facts of that case." Rosenthal, 185 Md. at 420, 45 A.2d at 81.
In 1941, this Court stated that the test of dependency is "not whether a claimant was capable of supporting himself without the earnings of the workman, but whether he did in fact rely upon such earnings for his livelihood, in whole or in part, under circumstances indicating an intent on the part of the workman to furnish such support." Meyler, 179 Md. at 217, 17 A.2d at 765. In 1958, we defined a "dependent" within the meaning of the Act as "one who relies wholly or in part upon a workman for the reasonable necessities of life at the time of his accidental injury . A legal or moral obligation to support some one does not create dependency in the absence of actual support." Mario Anello v. Dunn, 217 Md. 177, 180, 141 A.2d 731, 733 (1958)(emphasis added).
Meyler, supra, was one of our early cases in which we examined the issue of dependency in the workers' compensation death benefits context. In Meyler, the claimant, who was the stepdaughter of the deceased, and her stepfather agreed that she would stay home and take care of her invalid mother and the home. 179 Md. at 213, 17 A.2d at 763. Even though the claimant had previously held a factory job and was capable of supporting herself, we held that "there is no provision in the statute requiring that a person must be incapable of supporting himself before he can be dependent, and there is no reason to hold that dependency should be so restricted in its meaning." Meyler, 179 Md. at 217, 17 A.2d at 765. We further stated that the "mere ability to earn a livelihood does not necessarily preclude a person from being a dependent." Id. See also Superior Builders, Inc. v. Brown, 208 Md. 539, 543, 119 A.2d 376, 378 (1956)(" n construing the Act, the courts do not demand that a claimant must show destitution to obtain an award as a total dependent."). We held that the evidence was sufficient for the jury to find that the claimant was either totally or partially dependent on the deceased and ordered a new trial. Meyler, 179 Md. at 219, 17 A.2d at 766.
In the 1944 case of Larkin v. Smith, we examined the words "wholly dependent" as delineated in the Act. 183 Md. 274, 37 A.2d 340 (1944). In this case, the claimant alleged that she was dependent on her son for financial support, even though she sometimes sold eggs from her hens, ate occasional free meals at the restaurant where she previously worked, and intermittently received clothing from her former employer. Larkin, 183 Md. at 276-77, 37 A.2d at 341. The employer/in
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