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Here's why PSU employee's work comp claim for PTSD after witnessing death remains unresolved

Centre Daily Times - 3/3/2023

Mar. 3—A statewide appeals court decision handed down last month did not bring an end to a yearslong legal battle between Penn State and a worker who witnessed his fiancee's ex-husband kill her at a branch campus in western Pennsylvania.

A three-judge panel of the Commonwealth Court ordered four decisions — dating back as far as April 2019 — to be vacated, while also instructing a workers' compensation judge to author a revised decision explicitly detailing which testimony it found credible.

Longtime Penn State Beaver food services worker Lesli Kelly, 49, of Beaver County, was fatally shot in December 2017 at an on-campus parking lot. Kelly — who typically met her ex-husband there to exchange custody — was set to receive Christmas gifts for their children.

Instead, Kelly's ex-husband pulled out two semi-automatic handguns, fired at least eight shots and killed her. William Kelly, 52, of Beaver County, then killed himself.

Maintenance worker John Ward said he saw the killings from a second-floor window inside a dorm. Ward, who has post-traumatic stress disorder, has sought workers' compensation benefits since the killing.

Penn State, which declined comment Friday, has argued Ward is not eligible because he was not acting in the course of his employment when he monitored the custody exchange.

Legal rulings have not offered any clarity whether Pennsylvania's largest university will have to pay out Ward's benefits.

Ward testified his job required him to resolve any maintenance requests in the school's dorms. He would occasionally see the custody exchange in passing, but testified he did not make it a "purposeful part of (his day)."

On the day of the killings, Ward testified he was heading to check his mailbox for maintenance requests when he glanced out the window. Ward said he became aware "something terrible was happening" when he exited the dorm.

He denied seeing anything that would give him concern, including a drawn gun, when he looked out from the second-story window.

Penn State rebutted Ward's claims by relying on the testimony of the Pennsylvania State Police trooper who was the lead investigator.

The trooper said his understanding was that Ward would "watch every custody exchange," usually from the second-story window of the dorm. He did not believe Ward was on his way to the office.

A workers' compensation judge denied Ward's petition, writing in an April 2019 ruling that he "failed to establish that he was injured during an activity that furthered the interests of Penn State." The judge found both Ward and the trooper testified credibly.

Ward successfully appealed. The Workers' Compensation Appeal Board found Ward was not engaged in a "pronounced and significant departure from work responsibilities" or in a "premeditated, extreme and inherently high-risk action wholly foreign to his employment."

The back-and-forth continued with Penn State's appeal to the Commonwealth Court.

"I will never forgive the man that murdered her right in front of my eyes," Ward told TV station WTAE.

He also told the TV station he and his fiancee made more than four dozen reports of harassment and intimidation by her ex-husband before the shootings.

Kelly's family said she and her ex-husband were scheduled for a court hearing on child support payments the day after the killings. Her father described her ex-husband as an alcoholic and "very abusive." He also owned "a lot" of guns, he said.

A woman who said she had known the Kellys for more than 15 years told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that Lesli Kelly spent weeks fearful that her ex-husband would hurt her.

"We told every cop, every judge, the lawyers, people we worked with," Ward told WTAE. "Everyone that knew us knew that we were in fear for her safety. And nobody would lift a finger."

A former Penn State Beaver public relations director remembered Kelly as a "beloved" figure on campus. Students, she said, looked at her as a parent.

A former Penn State Beaver student said Kelly was very passionate about her work and "really cared about everyone" on campus. A co-worker said Kelly was "one of the people who made this a special place."

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