Printing - FECA-PT2 - National Association of Letter Carriers

(2) Death Cases. Under appropriate circumstances, an injury to an employee of the
United States can result in payments to the employee and/or his or her estate, spouse, and
children. Thus, in the event an employee incurs an illness or injury covered by FECA and
subsequently dies, separate causes of action may exist for his or her pain and suffering, for
a spouse or a child’s loss of consortium and for wrongful death. A recovery attributable to
each of these causes of action must be reported by means of a SOR filed on behalf of the
person receiving the recovery (e.g. estate, spouse or child) if that person received any
benefits under FECA.
(a) A SOR filed on behalf of the deceased employee should report all funds
received by the estate attributable to any causes of action possessed by the
employee. This would include a cause of action for pain and suffering while the
employee was alive.
(b) A surviving spouse who received FECA benefits on account of the death of a
federal employee becomes a FECA beneficiary obligated to file a SOR upon receiving
a third party recovery as a result of the death of his or her spouse. This would
include a cause of action for the wrongful death of the employee. A surviving child
who receives FECA benefits and a third party recovery is in the same situation and
has the same obligation as the surviving spouse. A surviving spouse and/or child
who receives an award for loss of consortium/society during the deceased
employee’s life is not required to file a SOR reporting that award or to include that
recovery in the gross recovery reported on a SOR otherwise required to be filed.
c. Any apportionment made by the court or by a jury in a contested judgment
will be accepted. However, joint judgments or settlements in other circumstances
are subject to SOL review for purposes of determining any appropriate allocation for
FECA purposes. FECA beneficiaries may utilize certain allowable percentages in any
case involving a deceased federal employee and a surviving spouse or child where it
is determined that the settlement or judgment represents causes of action
attributable to more than one person.
(1) In order to utilize the following acceptable percentage allocations below in (2) and
(3), a FECA beneficiary must demonstrate that:
(a) State law in the relevant state recognizes each cause of action to be utilized
in the allocation; and
(b) Each cause of action was asserted by the family member, either in the same
action or in a separate action, or in negotiations of the settlement in situations where
a settlement was obtained without filing litigation.
(2) Upon such demonstration, in cases where causes of action were asserted for pain
and suffering of the employee prior to his or her death and for loss of consortium, but not
for wrongful death, the following standard allocation percentages will be allowed:
(a) 25 percent of the total to be allocated to the spouse;
FECA-PT2 Printed: 06/08/2010 568