Only in New Jersey

The husband of a morbidly obese woman just won a New Jersey workers' compensation claim following the death of his wife who passed away after working a night shift for AT&T

On Monday June 27, 2011, a New Jersey appellate court affirmed an award of workers' compensation dependency benefits for the husband of the former AT&T manager, says Fox News analyst James Farrell.

The wife died of a pulmonary embolism caused by a blood clot the morning after she worked all night at her home desk on a company project, Farrell says.

The workers' comp judge found that her job which required her to work at a computer for long stretches of time materially contributed to her death. But Farrell notes the judge made the award despite the fact that:

(a) the woman was 47-years old

(b) she was "morbidly obese" (weighed 304 pounds)

(c) she had an enlarged heart

(d) she recently began taking birth control pills (which can precipitate clot formation) and

(e) she "led a sedentary life in and out of work"

The June 2011 appeals court decision is here.

The November 2010 appellate court's initial rejection of the workers' comp judge's decision (on a different ground) is here.