Murray v. Associated Insurers, Inc.

MITCHELL, Chief Justice.

This appeal is the result of a workers’ compensation claim in which the plaintiffs seek an award of death benefits under N.C.G.S. § 97-38. Decedent Hugh H. Murray, Jr., was the founder of Associated Insurers, Inc. He sold the company in 1982 to five co-workers but continued to work as an employee of the company for a salary plus an automobile allowance and operating expenses. On 27 June 1986, decedent was severely injured in a car accident on his way from Raleigh to the Hound Ears community near Boone, North Carolina. Decedent died on 5 September 1987 as a result of…