The claimant, the mother and next friend of a minor child, established through paternity tests that her daughter was the child of a worker who suffered a fatal injury. The Commission ordered the defendant to split death benefits between the child and the worker's surviving son.

After a worker suffered a fatal accident in the course of his employment, the defendant paid death benefits to the worker's minor son. The claimant, the mother and next friend of another minor child, alleged her daughter was also the worker's child and was entitled to death benefits as well. The claimant alleged she became pregnant with her daughter as a result of her sexual relationship with the worker. She successfully petitioned to have the worker's body exhumed for DNA testing, and the test results indicated a 99.98% probability that the worker fathered the child.

The arbitrator found the claimant's daughter was the natural child of the worker and the half-sister of the worker's minor son. Noting the worker had a legal obligation to support all of his natural children, the arbitrator found the worker's minor son and the claimant's daughter were both entitled to compensation for the worker's death. The arbitrator allowed the defendant to credit past due payments toward the payment of benefits from the claimant's daughter.

In affirming the arbitrator's decision, the Commission noted payments to either child would cease when they reached age 18, unless they enrolled as full-time students at an accredited educational institution. Furthermore, the Commission ruled the benefits could not, under any circumstances, exceed the sum of $250,000 or last more than 20 years, whichever was greater. The Commission ordered the defendant to pay death benefits for the claimant's daughter.