Lawrence LaFave widow Deborah Conradi sues her deceased husband’s employer, CBS after deeming the man’s death by auto-erotic asphyxiation was not accidental.
Deborah Conradi the widow of former CBS engineer husband, Lawrence LaFave, 65, has sued the media outlet after denying payment on a life insurance claim.
The suit comes in response to the broadcasting network refusing to make good on LaFave’s insurance claim, arguing that the engineer at the time of his death was found in a hotel room closet in Tarentum, PA.
Previous media reports cited the veteran engineer’s death occurring in June 2016. At the time of his death, LaFave was the lead engineer for all of CBS Sports’ big events including Super Bowl 50, Thursday Night Football, the Masters, PGA Championship, and NCAA Basketball Tournament.
TMZ who reported notice of the suit told of LaFave dying from accidental asphyxiation.
Citing the lawsuit, the gossip outlet told of LaFave being found hanging by a scarf from a closet shelf dressed in a slip, bra, women’s underwear and pantyhose.
Of intrigue, LaFave’s CBS life insurance policy, written by AIG, excludes death by auto-erotic asphyxiation.
In a letter to the husband’s widow, the insurer explained that auto-eroticism carries the risk of death by hanging, which does ‘not constitute an unanticipated accident that resulted in his death, as required by our policy.’
The letter claims LaFave’s death was ‘a natural and probably consequence of intentionally self-inflicted injury, specifically excluded under this policy’.
Conradi maintains that her husband’s death was accidental, and is seeking $1,400,000 in life insurance benefits, as well as punitive damages from both CBS and AIG.
It wasn’t not clear how much the original life insurance policy would have paid Conradi had her husband’s death been deemed accidental.
