Court Affirms Workers' Comp Benefits to Family of Firefighter Allegedly Exposed to Benzene

PHILADELPHIA -- The Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court has affirmed an award of workers' compensation benefits to the family of a former firefighter, finding that there was sufficient evidence to back the claimants' contention that the decedent's acute myelogenous leukemia was caused by exposure to benzene. City of Philadelphia v. Workers' Compensation Appeal Board, No. 2032 C.D. 2009 (Pa. Comm. Ct.).

In the Oct. 19 decision, the court accepted expert testimony proffered by the claimants that found benzene was released in the course of a fire and that "excess amounts of benzene have been found in firefighters after a fire."

The underlying …