Judge’s Widow Can’t Pursue Suit Claiming Overwork Caused His Death
The widow of a Connecticut judge who claims her husband died from overwork can’t sue the state under a special statute that extended the time limit for her to file suit.
The Connecticut Supreme Court ruled Monday (PDF) that the law was unconstitutional because it was designed to benefit just one person: Joan Kinney, the wife of the late judge, Judge Frank Kinney Jr., the Hartford Courant reports.
Joan Kinney contends her husband died in 1986 of a heart attack at the age of 53 because the state negligently assigned him too much work. At the time, he was the presiding criminal and administrative judge for New Haven, the chief administrative judge for the state court system’s criminal division, and chairman of a commission studying alternative sentences, the Associated Press reports.
Kinney originally sought benefits under workers’ compensation laws, but the state supreme court ruled judges are not state employees covered by such statutes. She currently receives $4,138 a month in survivor benefits from a state retirement fund for judges.
A hat tip to How Appealing, which posted the news.
