New York: Secretary’s PTSD Claim Connected With Patient’s Suicide Established Since She Was Not Mere Bystander

A secretary at a medical facility, who claimed she suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder after she responded to the suicide of a patient, is entitled to workers’ compensation benefits, held a New York court. Affirming a decision of the state Board, the court held that psychological injuries caused by witnessing the aftermath of a suicide could be compensable where the claimant was an active participant in the tragedy, as opposed to a mere bystander. Evidence showed that a patient leapt from a window at the facility where claimant worked and impaled himself on picnic tables outside claimant’s office. She was one of the first workers to reach the scene and, despite her lack of medical training, was directed by her supervisor to retrieve an oxygen tank for the patient. The secretary did so, but began to feel anxious and hyperventilate and “lost it” altogether after she was ordered by facility officials not to speak to investigators about her prior interactions with the patient. Substantial evidence supported the Board’s determination that claimant was an active participant.

Thomas A. Robinson, J.D., the Feature National Columnist for the LexisNexis Workers’ Compensation eNewsletter, is a leading commentator and expert on the law of workers’ compensation.

LexisNexis Online Subscribers: Citations below link to Lexis

See Demperio v. Onondaga County, 2015 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 2561 (3rd Dep’t, Mar. 26, 2015)

See generally Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, § 56.04 

Source: Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, the nation’s leading authority on workers’ compensation law.

For more information about LexisNexis products and solutions connect with us through our corporate site