Supreme Court denies death benefits appeal

The U.S. Supreme Court has denied an appeal filed by a Windsor woman seeking federal death benefits for herself and other widows of firefighting pilots killed in the line of duty.

Christine Wells-Groff’s husband, Larry Groff and another pilot, Lars Stratte, of Redding, were killed when their California Department of Forestry air tankers collided over a fire near Hopland Aug. 27, 2001.

But unlike other public safety employees killed in the line of duty, their widows are not entitled to federal death benefits because the pilots worked for a company that contracts with the state, rather than working directly for the state department.

Wells-Groff is one of dozens of tanker pilots’ widows denied death benefits since 1980, when the U.S. Department of Justice decided that tanker pilots are excluded from federal death benefits.

Tuesday’s ruling brings Wells-Groff’s legal battle for benefits to an end, but she has vowed to continue fighting for legislation to change the law that denied tanker pilots widows federal benefits, said her attorney, Michael Brook, of Santa Rosa.