On-the-Job Heart Attack Considered Work-Related for Death Benefits Coverage

A New York appellate court affirmed an award of death benefits to a widow whose husband died of a heart attack while working. The case is Matter of Polonski v. Town of Islip, 2023 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 5134 (N.Y. App. Div. 2023). 

Mr. Polonski worked as a highway maintenance crew leader. He underwent spinal fusion surgery in May 2018 and did not return to work until January 2019. At his doctor’s recommendation, he requested lighter duty both before the surgery and after returning to work. On January 17, 2019, his supervisor assigned him to a crew demolishing a facility bathroom. Mr. Poloski left work at 4 p.m., but he had to return at 1 a.m. on January 18 to help clear snow from the roadways. When he complained of fatigue that afternoon, he was permitted to rest in the break room. Mr. Polonski’s co-workers found him unresponsive 20 minutes later, and he was pronounced dead at the hospital. The autopsy revealed the cause of death was a combination of atherosclerotic and hypertensive cardiovascular disease and acute oxycodone intoxication.