Insurance Co. of North America v. Russell

Hill, Justice.

The question for decision here is the constitutionality of the conclusive presumption of dependency in favor of widows (but not widowers) under our workers’ compensation law, and if unconstitutional, whether that conclusive presumption shall be available to both widows and widowers.

Following the death of his wife as a result of gunshot wounds sustained in the course of a robbery at her place of employment, her surviving spouse, Jack B. Russell, applied for workers’ compensation benefits. Under Georgia’s workers’ compensation law, in order to recover death benefits from.a…