Connecticut Woman Tests State Workers’ Comp Laws

The fiancée of a victim of last August’s shooting rampage at a beer distributorship in Manchester, Connecticut is putting the state’s workers’ compensation benefits law to the test.

Stephanie Laurin was engaged to William Ackerman, one of eight people killed by a co-worker at Hartford Distributors. Laurin says they lived together for four years and intended to marry in October.

She has applied for Ackerman’s $500 per week workers’ compensation benefits.

A lawyer for Hartford Distributors and its insurance company has filed documents with the state Workers’ Compensation Commission, saying the law is clear: Laurin can’t claim the benefits because she is not a family member.

Laurin tells The Hartford Courant she qualifies because she was his “dependent.”

Legal experts say the case is likely to end up in the state Supreme Court.