Keystone Masonry Corp. v. Hernandez

847 A.2d 493, 156 Md. App. 496, 2004 Md. App. LEXIS 61
CourtCourt of Special Appeals of Maryland
DecidedApril 19, 2004
Docket680, Sept. Term, 2003
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 847 A.2d 493 (Keystone Masonry Corp. v. Hernandez) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Special Appeals of Maryland primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Keystone Masonry Corp. v. Hernandez, 847 A.2d 493, 156 Md. App. 496, 2004 Md. App. LEXIS 61 (Md. Ct. App. 2004).

Opinion

SHARER, J.

The issue in this workers’ compensation case, involving the death of a worker, is dependency. Appellants, the deceased’s employer, Keystone Masonry Corporation, and its insurer, Montgomery Mutual Insurance Company, 1 seek review of a judgment of the Circuit Court for Prince George’s County, entered pursuant to a jury verdict, finding that the deceased’s three minor children were wholly dependent upon him for *500 support when he died, and were thereby entitled to death benefits pursuant to Md. Ann.Code (1999 Rep. Vol.), Labor and Employment Article § 9-681(g).

One question is presented for our review, which, restated, is:

Was the evidence sufficient to support the jury’s verdict that the deceased’s three children were wholly dependent upon him at the time of his death?

We answer the question “yes” and shall affirm.

FACTUAL and PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

At the time Elvis Rudis Hernandez, a eitizen of El Salvador, arrived in the United States on March 16, 1999, he was the father of two children, Katherine Nataly, born August 5, 1996, and Kevin Alexis, born April 21,1998. After his death, a third child, Elvis Rudis (called “Rudito” by his family), was born on June 29,1999. The parties stipulated that Hernandez was the father of all three children. The children remained in El Salvador with their mothers, Iselda Salmerón (the mother of Katherine) and Glenda Romero (the mother Kevin and Rudito) while Hernandez worked in this country. 2

Hernandez found work as a laborer at Keystone Masonry Corporation, located in Beltsville, Maryland. He began his employment on March 30, 1999, just two weeks after arriving in the U.S. On May 24, 1999, while in the employ of Keystone, Hernandez was killed when a wall collapsed on him.

Workers’ Compensation Commission Proceedings

On February 9, 2000, a claim for death benefits was filed on behalf of the three children, pursuant to Lab. & Empl. § 9-501(a)(2). Keystone contested only whether the children were wholly dependent upon their father at the time of his death. 3 *501 To support their claim of dependency, appellees point out that Hernandez sent funds to them from his earnings at Keystone through an informal courier system commonly used by El Salvadoran immigrants.

A hearing was held before the Commission on April 29, 2002. Oscar Romero Florez, a courier who traveled to El Salvador on a relatively regular basis to deliver money (and other items) from U.S. workers to their families there, testified that he had taken a total of $750 in U.S. currency to El Salvador for the Hernandez children on two separate occasions. Florez told the Commission that, each time, he delivered $75 to Salmerón and $250 to Romero. Florez testified that his first trip on Hernandez’ behalf was in March 1999, before Hernandez began working for appellant, and the second was on May 24, 1999, coincidentally the date of Hernandez’ death.

Hernandez’ father, Fredis Hernandez, who also resided and worked in the U.S., testified that his son sent money to El Salvador, which was delivered to his (the elder Hernandez’) wife. He conceded that he never personally witnessed Florez deliver the funds, as he and his son remained in this country. Fredis Hernandez testified that Iselda Salmerón and Katherine lived with family in San Salvador, and that Glenda Romero, then pregnant with Rudito, and Kevin lived in a small home on the Hernandez property in El Salvador.

On May 17, 2003, the Commission ruled that the Hernandez children, in El Salvador, were not dependent upon their father and denied their claim for death benefits. The children petitioned for judicial review and requested a jury trial.

Circuit Court Proceedings

At trial on May 14, 2003, appellees presented the testimony of Dr. Manuel Orozco, Fredis Hernandez, Oscar Florez, and Dorothea Hernandez (the deceased’s mother). Because the sole issue before us is sufficiency of the evidence, we shall review the testimony of each witness.

*502 Manuel Orozco

Dr. Orozco is affiliated with the Inter-American Dialogue and Center for Policy Analysis, a research institute that analyzes economic, political, and social issues in Latin America. He was qualified as an expert on the subjects of family remittances and the economy of El Salvador.

Dr. Orozco, who himself travels frequently to Central America, testified about a method commonly used by immigrant workers to send money from this country to El Salvador:

The process that takes place is basically two-fold. You either send the money through an existing institution like Western Union, for example, or sometimes you use informal mechanisms like you look for a friend, a family person or more common an interpreter that does the business of taking the money for you, and sometimes these are called travelers. They travel sometimes twice a month back to these countries, and they carry with them sometimes $20,000 or something like that in cash and then they deliver it in the home country.
The relative receives the money and they send it for basically to cover basic needs, food, clothing, housing and sometimes other elements.

Dr. Orozco told the jury that many immigrants chose to utilize the more informal “traveler” system because wire transfer of funds was more expensive, and because many El Salvadorans do not have access to banks. He also opined that the amount of money sent by Hernandez before his death, $750, would have been sufficient to support three people in El Salvador for one month.

Fredis Hernandez

Fredis Hernandez testified that he saw his son give money and letters to Florez for delivery to Hernandez’ children in El Salvador. On cross-examination, the elder Hernandez testified that he also sent money by courier to his wife, who was then living in El Salvador.

*503 Hernandez acknowledged that Glenda Romero also had family in New York, who may have sent small amounts of money to El Salvador, and, likewise, that Iselda Salmerón had family in Connecticut, who may have sent small amounts of money to her on occasion. He also testified that his daughter, also working in the U.S., occasionally sent her niece and nephews ten dollars, and that the family received no assistance from El Salvador’s government. Hernandez confirmed that Katherine lived with Iselda Salmerón and Salmeron’s sister at the time of his son’s death.

Oscar Romero Florez

Florez testified that he had delivered $250 to Dorothea Hernandez on three separate occasions in 1999 while Hernandez was living and working in the U.S. He testified that, in addition to money, he carried letters, clothing, and shoes to El Salvador for the Hernandez children from their father.

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Bluebook (online)
847 A.2d 493, 156 Md. App. 496, 2004 Md. App. LEXIS 61, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/keystone-masonry-corp-v-hernandez-mdctspecapp-2004.