Dorelda Gilliland v. E.J. Bartells Co., Inc. Wausau Insurance Co. Director, Office of Workers' Compensation Programs

This appeal requires us to decide how to compute the offset to which an employer owing benefits under the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (LHWCA) is entitled under 33 U.S.C. § 933 (f) when a claimant receives a third-party tort recovery that includes ongoing, periodic payments funded by an annuity contract. The Director of the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (Director) allowed the employer to offset the amount of each periodic payment against benefits owed at the time the payment was made. Because that method of computing the offset reasonably interprets 33 U.S.C. § 933 (f), we defer to the Director and, accordingly, affirm the decision of the Benefits Review Board.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

In March 1982, Claimant Dorelda Gilli-land filed a claim for death benefits under the LHWCA on behalf of herself and her two dependent children. Claimant’s husband, Darol Gilliland, had died on December 22, 1981, of work-related asbestosis. Mr. Gilliland had been employed as an asbestos worker by Defendant E.J. Bar-tells Co., Inc. (Employer). Claimant was awarded funeral expenses, death benefits, and her husband’s total disability benefits for the period from…