Janet Brennan v. City of Waterbury

Summary

The court held that unpaid heart and hypertension benefits may pass to a claimant's estate when they matured during the claimant's lifetime, and that prior precedent did not bar such payment. Because the record did not establish that the degree of the decedent's permanent impairment had been fixed by an award or binding agreement before his death, the court could not determine that the benefits had matured. The court rejected dismissal on standing grounds, reversed the ruling that substitution of the executrix was improper, and remanded for further proceedings concerning the proper beneficiary and benefit amount.